- If you are sick, you may be absent for one or two days without having to provide a medical certificate.
- A maximum of seven days uncertified sick leave may be taken in any 24 month period.
- Any absence of more than two days requires a medical certificate.
- Sick leave whether certified or uncertified may affect your eligibility to apply for promotion including higher duties allowances.
- In general, sick leave of more than 56 days in the previous four years is likely to rule you out of being considered for promotion. There are some exceptions:
- If the sick leave is because you had a one-off injury which is not going to be repeated (eg sick leave for a broken arm would usually be discounted);
- The personnel officer may take account of any pattern of sick leave, so that a large block of sick leave early in the four years may be discounted if there has been no further sick leave.
Circular 6/2014 sets out the revised sick leave arrangements.
Limits for Sick Leave
92 days on full pay in a rolling 1 year period counting back from the day before the latest date of absence followed by 91 days on half pay subject to;
A maximum of 183 days in a rolling 4 year period counting back from day before the latest date of absence.
Limits for Sick Leave Granted under the Critical Illness Protocol
183 days on full pay in a rolling 1 year period counting back from the day before latest date of absence followed by 182 days on half pay subject to;
A maximum of 365 days in a rolling 4 year period counting back from the day before the latest date of absence.
Temporary Rehabilitation Remuneration
Regulation 6 of SI 124 of 2014 sets out the provisions for Temporary Rehabilitation Remuneration (TRR).
The conditions to be met before temporary rehabilitation remuneration can be paid are:
(a) the individual concerned must have the service required for an ill health retirement pension*; and
(b) there must be a reasonable prospect that the individual will be able to return to work and give
regular and effective service.
Regulation 6 also provides that the rate of pay of temporary rehabilitation remuneration is the same as the rate of pension that the individual would be paid if they were to be ill ‐health retired.
The following limits apply for payment of TRR:
- Ordinary sick leave: 547 days on TRR in a rolling 4 year period
- Critical Illness Provisions: 365 days on TRR in a rolling 4 year period with a provision to extend for a further 2 years subject to 6 monthly reviews.
* An ill health retirement pension is a pension that may be paid to an individual where he or she retires on health grounds.