Sick pay and pension: what you owe your employee

Two rules apply to every employer, including families employing someone at home.

Statutory sick pay

Once your employee has worked for you for 13 weeks, they are entitled to paid sick days each year.

• The number of days is set by the government each year.
• You pay 70% of their normal daily pay, up to a daily cap.
• They need a medical certificate for each sick day.

You can choose to pay more. See Citizens Information: sick leave and sick pay.

Pension auto-enrolment

Since January 2026, employees who aren't in a workplace pension are enrolled in My Future Fund if they:

• are aged 23 to 60, and
• earn over €20,000 a year.

You, your employee and the State each put in a share of their pay. Your share starts at 1.5% of gross pay and rises over the next ten years. Your employee can opt out after six months. See My Future Fund.

How Claricent Care helps

We check whether your employee qualifies, enrol them, and take the pension contributions through payroll each pay day. Sick days are logged on the phone and paid at the right rate.