This entitlement ensures that employees benefit from a minimum level of compensation if they are unable to work due to illness or injury. The Government was planning to expand the scheme even further this year to seven days and then 10 days, but a backlash from employers resulted in a climbdown. Business owners and representative bodies in the retail and hospitality sectors expressed concerns about the overall impact of such measures, particularly in the context of increasing labour, input and energy costs.
The Government argued that the allowance of five days鈥 paid leave strikes a balance, giving employees income protection for five days, after which they will be entitled to illness benefit.
The rules are clear though. The same cannot be said about the provision of sick certs for workers who are ill. The growth in population has resulted in a shortage of doctors. GP appointments are no longer a case of just ringing the surgery and dropping in.
The supply of digital sick certs is a growing trend
So employees who need a sick cert to ensure their time off is covered by their bosses have to turn to alternative means of getting a cert. The supply of digital sick certs is a growing trend. However, some of these certs are issued without any phone or video consultations being carried out by doctors.
Sick certs are being advertised on some medical websites for between 鈧25 and 鈧45, with students and employees required to fill out an online questionnaire to allow their request to be reviewed.
When Irish Independent reporters applied to six websites for sick certs, complaining of headaches and flu symptoms, three sites arranged a phone call with a GP. Four of the sites did not ask for proof of identification and all provided a cert within a short timeframe.
Medical professionals say that digital certification helps keep infectious people out of clinics and workplaces, and frees up scarce GP time. And undoubtedly there are operators who are running a credible, valuable and legitimate service. The Irish Medical Council鈥檚 guidelines do not require live interaction before a doctor signs off on a sick cert.
However, concerns have been raised that the online system may be open to exploitation. For example, one website with an Indian domain name offers sick certs to employees in around 40 countries for prices 鈥渁s low as 鈧25鈥. The cert did not appear to include a number for the Irish Medical Council register, therefore is not applicable in Ireland 鈥 provided the employer knows the rules.
Like much of the telemedicine sector, the rules appear vague. Undoubtedly, there are benefits to telemedicine and the use of technology. But there is an obligation on the Irish Medical Council to step in with hard and fast regulations.