Practical Applications for Private Sector Employees

Sick pay administration in Ireland has become significantly more complex for private sector organisations. Errors in calculating, inconsistent policies, poor payroll processes and misunderstandings around statutory versus occupational entitlements can lead to employee disputes, payroll corrections, audit findings, compliance risks and unnecessary cost to organisations. This course will give participants practical, usable skills that can be applied immediately in the workplace. Throughout the day, attendees will work through real calculation examples, operational scenarios and common problem areas that arise in day-to-day HR and payroll administration. The return on investment by attending this course will mean fewer calculation errors, more consistent decision-making, stronger compliance, reduced risk exposure and greater confidence in handling sick pay issues accurately and fairly across the organisation.

This course gives participants practical, usable skills that can be applied immediately. Attendees work through real calculation examples and operational scenarios throughout the day, in facilitated breakout groups with worked answers discussed in full afterwards.

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

• Calculate statutory sick leave entitlement and payment correctly
• Distinguish between statutory, contractual and discretionary sick pay
• Handle variable hours, shift work, allowances and overtime in sick pay calculations
• Manage the interaction between company sick pay and Illness Benefit
• Identify common payroll and HR errors before they become disputes
• Address short-term and long-term absence fairly and lawfully
• Recognise where absence engages disability and unfair dismissal risk
• Audit and improve your own sick pay process

Topics

• Statutory Sick Leave
• Calculating the daily payment / the daily cap
• Penalisation protections and WRC exposure
• Company and Occupational Sick Pay Schemes
• Contractual versus discretionary schemes
• Calculation Complications
• Shift work, allowances, regular overtime, commission and bonus
• Payroll, Revenue and Social Welfare
• Tax, PRSI and USC treatment, and the interaction with Illness Benefit
• Managing Absence and Compliance
• Frequent short-term absence
• Long-term absence and occupational health referrals
• Annual leave and public holidays falling during sick leave.
• Disability and reasonable accommodation.
• Capability and ill-health dismissal
• Medical certification and data protection
• Worked Examples and Scenario Exercises

Who Should Attend

This course will be highly beneficial to private sector professionals If you calculate sick pay, approve it, or answer questions about it. It is aimed at HR, payroll, finance, employee relations and line managers across private sector organisations. No prior technical knowledge is assumed, though the day is pitched at practitioners who meet these questions in their working week.

Certification

On completion of this one-day training course, you will receive your Certificate of Attendance. Please note certificates are issued at the close of the training course to participants on completion of the course.

This course may qualify for CPD points. Please check directly with your association or awarding body to see how many points they will award.

Cost

An ‘Early Bird’ discounted rate of €499 is currently available. This training course normal rate is €599. Places are limited and are allocated on a first come first served basis. PLEASE NOTE THE EARLY BIRD RATE CLOSES 3 WEEKS PRIOR TO COURSE DATE. The course cost includes all course documentation and Certificate of Attendance.