Labour rep backs pay for sick leave

The Labour Party is proposing a special COVID-19 parental leave for situations where a school or early years provider is forced to close due to a COVID-19 outbreak

Local Area Rep Liam van der Spek has backed the Labour Party campaign to bring in paid sick leave and cover for parents when their child's school is closed due to an outbreak of COVID-19.

There is presently no legal right to paid sick leave in Ireland, and the Labour Party has proposed a new law that if passed would ensure workers who fall sick continue to get paid for up to six weeks.

The bill also calls for paid parental leave where a school or childcare provider is closed because of a COVID-19 outbreak.

Mr van der Spek said: “There is no right to paid sick leave in Ireland and it is an enormous hole in the protections which workers need to prevent them from being forced to go to work while sick.

“Ireland is an outlier in Europe in not having paid sick leave, and it has been highlighted by NPHET and the acting Chief Medical Officer as a problem in controlling outbreaks. If an employer does not provide sick pay, then the weekly illness benefit payment of €203 may be all that is available to a worker, if they qualify.”

Mr van der Spek considers that the pandemic has exposed many “injustices and inequalities”, and in particular states that the COVID outbreaks in meat processing plants has put a spotlight on the working conditions in many sectors, especially low paid and non-unionised workers.

“The current rules on sick pay and illness benefit act as a disincentive for workers to comply with public health guidelines as they may be left with no income,” he says. “That is why the Labour Party is proposing a right to paid sick leave of up to six weeks at the same rate as annual leave. This is the recovery time for a moderate to severe case of COVID-19 according to the WHO. After 6 weeks, a person would move on to Illness Benefit if still unable to work. 6 weeks is a fraction of the sick leave arrangements which trade unions have delivered for workers across the public sector."

The Labour Party is also proposing a special COVID-19 parental leave for situations where a school or early years provider is forced to close due to a COVID-19 outbreak.

“In such a case an employee who is the parent or adoptive parent of a child will be entitled to paid COVID-19 parental leave, at full pay so long as the child is unable to attend the school or pre-school, so long as the presence of the employee is required at their home in order to care for the child,” concluded Mr van der Spek.