Sick Pay & Critical Illness Cover
What happens your income when you fall ill?
It depends entirely on whether you’ve got illness cover or not. If you don’t have privately organised illness cover you will be reliant on coverage provided on the back of Pay Related Social Insurance (PRSI) payments automatically taken from your pay packet (unless you are self employed, in which case PRSI doesn’t cover anything).
Standard Sick Pay
Generally sick pay is paid for 13 weeks (92 days) at full pay in one year, followed by 13 weeks (92) days at ½ pay, this is subject to a maximum of 26 weeks (183) days in a rolling 4 year period. If you exceed the 183 days paid sick leave you may receive temporary rehabilitation remuneration TRR (see below) for a further 18 months which is (548 days).
Extended sick leave for Critical Illness
There is a critical illness protocol whereby employees may be granted extended paid sick leave of 26 weeks (183 days) at full pay in one year followed by 26 weeks (183days) at half pay subject to a maximum of 52 weeks (365 days) in a rolling 4 year period. If you exceed 365 days paid sick leave you may be receive TRR (see below) for a further 12 months (365 days) TRR may be extended for a further period of to 7 maximum of 2 years (730 days).
Temporary Rehabilitation Remuneration (TRR)
Temporaty Rehabilitation Remuneration (TRR) is based on your accrued pension benefits which would have applied had you actually retired on ill health grounds. It may be granted where there is a realistic prospect of an individual returning to work. Please note that any added years which you may have purchased are not taken in to account for the purpose of the calculations of this benefit.
Ill health Early Retirement Pension.
If you retire on the grounds of ill health you may be entitled to an ill health early retirement pension.
What happens when you’re sick pay expires
If your sick pay runs out, your entitlement will be social welfare disability benefits. If you are paying A1 rate of PRSI and you are single this equates to €9,776.00 per year currently (as of 01/10/2015) which provides a subsistence income only.
