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Letter telling your employer you are off sick (Ireland)
Ireland · in English · for employees
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12 questions · about 5 min
Made for use in Ireland
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For an employee in Ireland who is too ill to work. The letter tells your employer when the absence began and how long you expect it to last, says you will send a medical certificate, asks for statutory sick pay (5 days a year in 2026 after 13 weeks' service) or the sick pay your contract gives if it is more, and gives a phone and email to reach you. It does not describe your illness. Email it, following any rule your employer has for calling in sick.
- Made for use in Ireland
- Last updated November 3, 2026
- Document in English
Published byDocMuse
When to use this document
- I am too ill to work and need to tell my employer in Ireland in writing.
- My doctor says I need time off work in Ireland and I want to ask for sick pay.
- I want to report my sick leave to my employer in Ireland without describing my illness.
- My employer in Ireland wants sick absences confirmed by email with the expected return date.
What you fill in
The details the document asks for.
- Employee
- Employee's address
- Town and county (e.g. Ennis, Co. Clare; or Dublin 8)
- Your Eircode
- Date
- Person you are writing to, as you would address them (e.g. Ms Byrne)
- Employer
- Employer's postal address (street, town and county, and Eircode on separate lines)
- Absent from
- Absent until
- Phone
Common questions
- How many paid sick days does an employee get in Ireland in 2026?
- Five days of statutory sick leave a year, paid by the employer, for an employee with 13 weeks' continuous service who has a medical certificate. The rise to ten days that was once planned for 2026 did not happen. The employer pays a percentage of your normal daily pay up to a daily limit, both set by regulation; your contract may give more.
- Do I need a doctor's certificate for sick leave in Ireland?
- For statutory sick pay, yes: a certificate from a registered medical practitioner, such as your GP, that you cannot work. Your contract or sick leave policy may also say when a certificate is needed for contractual sick pay. Your employer can ask for the certificate but not for your diagnosis beyond what its policy reasonably requires.
- What happens when my sick pay from work runs out?
- If you are still unable to work, you may qualify for Illness Benefit from the Department of Social Protection, based on your PRSI contributions; the Department's MyWelfare service and your GP explain how to claim and send the certificates. Your employer may continue sick pay under your contract; ask HR what the policy gives.
How you can sign this document
- Print it and sign by hand. The signature lines in the document are left blank on purpose — sign on them in ink.
- Sign it yourself with a qualified electronic signature. If you already hold a QES — Evrotrust, B-Trust, StampIT, ZealiD or any qualified provider on the EU Trusted List, on a card, a USB token, in a mobile app or in the cloud — our signing guide explains step by step how to sign this exact file without invalidating it. Step-by-step help, and a way to check it worked
DocMuse sells documents, not legal advice. Acceptance always depends on the recipient's rules and your local law.
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