All employees will be entitled to 10 sick days a year from 2025 under plans agreed by cabinet this morning.
The entitlement to leave will phase in from next year and will be capped at 70 per cent of someone's wages or up to 110 euro a day.
The figure is based off 70 per cent of someone on a salary of almost 41,000 euro a year.
Tánaiste Leo Varadkar has said to help businesses manage the new payments the entitlement to sick days will be phased in over a number of years.