[ad_1]
As of today, people who claim the standard ‘non-Covid-19’ sickness benefit will only have to wait three days to be eligible, instead of six as at present, confirmed the Minister of Social Protection, Heather Humphreys.
The measure is expected to increase the cost of the standard sickness benefit by € 32.6 million per year (excluding additional ICT and personnel costs) due to what the Department has described as an “immediate and significant impact” in terms of the number of claims, as more people will be eligible.
“For example, last year the Department of Social Protection received about 200,000 applications for Sickness Benefit and each of those employees would have had to waive six days of waiting,” the department said.
Until January 2014, applicants only had to wait three days to claim sickness benefit.
However, in that year the Fine Gael Labor Government increased waiting days to six, leaving applicants who had no occupational sickness pay plan without income until day seven of their illness.
In announcing the move, Ms Humphreys noted that the plan to return to the pre-2014 three-day waiting regime had been included in the 2021 Budget, adding that it would help reduce the financial burden for employees who become ill.
He noted that most people who get sick only get sick for a short period of time, but many continued to go to work to avoid loss of income.
“Restoring the number of ‘waiting days’ for sickness benefit to the original three days will help reduce the financial burden on employees who become ill and allow them to be absent from work without the level of lost income they might have experienced up to now., “she said.
The reduction in waiting days announced today only applies to sickness benefit for non-coronavirus-related illnesses.
The Covid-19 Enhanced Illness Benefit introduced when the pandemic broke out already pays at a rate of € 350 per week from day one for people medically certified as carriers of the virus or as close contact.
It was designed to ensure that people had a floor of financial support and to discourage them from going to work and spreading the virus.
Sickness benefit is a short-term payment available to PRSI-insured employees in classes A, E, and H.
Latest coronavirus stories
[ad_2]