# I have a small company, one of my employees is going to be out sick for a week.



## adm1 (23 May 2007)

I have a small company, one of my employees is going to be out sick for a week.  I plan to pay him in full however i think there is something i can claim from the social welfare.  Can anyone point me in the right direction?


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## aidan119 (23 May 2007)

*Re: sick pay*

2 options:

1) Pay him full and ask him to give you the SW cheque
2) Pay full and deduct the SW amt from the net pay.

Both ensure he gets exactly same net pay.


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## adm1 (23 May 2007)

*Re: sick pay*

how do i go about gettig the sw check
is there some form to complete


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## aidan119 (23 May 2007)

*Re: sick pay*

Ask him for it, get it endorsed and lodge to your own account. But you will ahve a time lag this way as you will probably pay him before he receives his cheque.

By far the easiest way is to find the rate of benefit he is entitled to and just deduct it net. Therefore his cheque from you plus his SW cheque = his normal net pay for a flat week.



Make sure he claims it though because if you are paying him in full there is no incentive for him to go to the bother of doing it so make it clear that you are paying him on this condition.

I've seen cases where employers continued to pay the full wage and the employee claimed from SW and employer did not follow it up to recover it . In these cases the employee was gaining more by being out sick .....


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## adm1 (23 May 2007)

*Re: sick pay*

the guys was at a private doctor and had a small op, so was told to stay home for a week.  he said the doctor said he does not give out forms and that social welfare said it was up to the employer to look for this?  who gets the form and were from?


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## Towger (23 May 2007)

*Re: sick pay*

All this same 'Net Pay' lark. Sick Pay is not Taxable for the first 6 (Social Welfare) weeks, after which it is subject to PAYE but not PRSI.

Towger


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## aidan119 (23 May 2007)

*Re: sick pay*



Towger said:


> All this same 'Net Pay' lark. Sick Pay is not Taxable for the first 6 (Social Welfare) weeks, after which it is subject to PAYE but not PRSI.
> 
> Towger


 

Whether the sick pay is taxable or not is not relevant if he is trying to ensure the employee has the same net pay.
You only need to consider the tax implications for SW sick pay if the employer does not pay anything. 


If he is using a payroll software then to achieve a normal net pay he must deduct the SW cheque net rather than gross. 
Else just give cheque to employer and deduct nothing.

Its really very simple, have been doing it for years.

It's up to the employee to arrange his own SW for sick pay. Nothing to do with the employer. He gets it from SW office just the same as if he was claiming UB or UA. There is no need for him to metion to SW that employer is still paying him while off sick. This may be what is complicating things.


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## Towger (24 May 2007)

*Re: sick pay*

If he just deducts the cheque from Net Pay he is :

Over paying PAYE (Using up employees Tax Credit and Cutoff Point).
Over paying Employee PRSI.
Over paying Employer PRSI.

The only advantage would be if he pushed the employee over the annual earnings ceiling earlier.


Option 1: Quick Manual / Simple computer payroll solution.

The cheque should be deducted from the Gross Pay, if the employer keeps the cheque add it to the Net Pay, or if the employee keeps the cheque added and subtracted to the Net Pay. This shows the employee ( and a revenue audit) how it was handled.

The net result is the employee and employer will save money, but the net pay will *not* remain the same.


Option 2: Long Manual / Advanced computer payroll solution.

Take a note of the employees normal Net Pay. Enter value of the cheque as a Net Deduction. Perform a Net to Gross calculation on the payroll for the required Net Pay. The Payroll will calculate the required (Salary) Gross Pay taking into account the Net Deduction for the cheque.

The net result is the employee and employer will save tax/money, but the net pay *will* remain the same.

Towger.


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## aidan119 (24 May 2007)

*Re: sick pay*

Points noted.

But under option 1 the employee would have more money in his pocket than if he actually worked a full week because he gets the taxfree benefit of the SW cheque. This is not fair to other employees who were not out sick. Could not allow this to happen. 

I doubt if original poster has got the option on his software for #2 but presume it could be worked out manually by trial and error on a spreadsheet.


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## RainyDay (3 Jun 2007)

*Re: sick pay*



adm1 said:


> the guys was at a private doctor and had a small op, so was told to stay home for a week.  he said the doctor said he does not give out forms and that social welfare said it was up to the employer to look for this?  who gets the form and were from?



This story seems very strange. I'd be wondering if either the doc or the employee is stretching the truth. Surely any doctor would be used to signing sick certs? This can't be the first employee who has had the operation and needed to take a week off? Are you really, really sure the doc said this? I'd be wondering if the doc is registered to practice here in Ireland?


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