Sick Pay Proposal, Bad News For Jobs – Healy Eames

 

“I will be resisting Minister Joan Burton’s proposal that employers should pay for the first four weeks of employees’ sick pay.”

“This is an anti-jobs measure. It is biting off the hand that feeds us. Employers are the multipliers who create the jobs. SMEs are the lifeblood of our local economy. We should be encouraging them not discouraging them.”

“This morning I have had three calls from employers in Galway- one saying that she already called in her 7 employees and told them if this proposal goes ahead their jobs are gone. Instead, she will down-size to become a sole trader. Two other Galway city employers said they would have no choice but to turn most of their employees into sub-contractors instead. Having been an employer myself in the past I know what this feels like.”

“Already absenteeism costs businesses €1.5bn per year or an average of €818 per employee. This proposal would mean that already struggling businesses are facing an extra €150 million per annum in sickness payments.”

“Many SMEs are already struggling with increased costs in fuel, energy, local charges, high rents and reduced/decreasing revenues due to the economic climate at the moment. To add further costs to these businesses at a moment when we should be supporting business to stay afloat, maintain and create employment is madness. This policy needs to be urgently reconsidered or it will drive a lot of business underground resulting in huge losses to exchequer revenue”

“As the Fine Gael spokesperson on Social Protection, I will be telling Minister Burton in the Seanad on Thursday to reconsider fast and come up with a different proposal that won’t cut the source of jobs. This is a retrograde step for unemployed people too. It will lessen their chances of ever getting a job.”

“In addition, I will be raising this with our own Ministers at our Fine Gael Parliamentary Meeting” said Senator Fidelma Healy Eames.

 

  • Galway Employers not happy

Responding to reports that employers will have to pay the first four weeks of their staff’s sick pay, Senator Fidelma Healy Eames speaking in Seanad Eireann has condemned the proposal, saying it is wholly “anti-jobs” and would cause untold damage to SMEs already struggling to survive.