For EMPLOYERS.

Your Obligations as an Employer

The Construction Workers’ Sick Pay Trust is not available as a standalone product. It is only available via the Construction Workers’ Pension Scheme (CWPS). Membership of CWPS also satisfies the conditions of the current Sectoral Employment Orders (Construction and Electrical Contracting Sectors 2021), in respect of pension, Sick Pay and Death in Service benefit for all workers registered with CWPS.

If you are a member of CWPS and your staff wish to make a claim via the Sick Pay Trust, you must:

Keep your contributions to CWPS up to date, ensuring your employees are covered for their benefits.
Ensure all eligible employees are registered in the Scheme so they have the same entitlements.

New SEO contribution rates are effective 1st Feb 2023.

Initial Claims (SP1)

When an employee is out sick from work due to illness or injury for a period of more than 3 days, a claim can be made to the Scheme for sick pay benefit to be paid to the employee. A Standard sick pay benefit form (SP1) must be completed, Section A by the employee and Section B by the employer. All forms are available on our ‘Forms and Downloads Page‘. The completed form should be returned to CWPS along with evidence.

The Scheme will accept the following as evidence:

a medical certificate.
a letter from a doctor or hospital.
copies of employee’s weekly Social Welfare Certificates.

Employers should only sign the SP1 if:

the employee is a member of the Construction Workers’ Pension Scheme (CWPS).
is currently in employment.
has been absent for more than 3 days due to illness/injury.

Continuous Claims (SP2)

Once the employee’s initial claim has been approved by the Scheme the employer will be notified by email that the benefit has been processed and paid to their employee and a further claim form “Claim for continuous sick pay benefit” form SP2 will be sent to the employer for completion.

If the employee is still absent from work, this SP2 from must be completed by the employer and returned to CWPS along with evidence from a doctor or hospital in order for the member to receive further sick pay benefit from the Scheme.

Employers should:

Complete SP2 form with relevant details to verify that the employee is still absent and still in your employment.
Return SP2 form to CWPS along with evidence for employee to cover extended period of leave.
Repeat this process each week.

If, after a period of absence, an employee returns to work for more than two days in a row, and is then off sick again, you must fill in another ‘Claim for standard sick pay‘ form (SP1). This form is available on the downloads page on our website.

Paying pension and sick pay contributions

Employers do not have to pay pension contributions to CWPS for employees when they are absent from work due to illness or injury as they will not be in receipt of wages or salary.

When making your monthly pension returns to CWPS, employers should mark the employee as “Sick” for the relevant weeks of their illness/injury to reflect their absence. Amounts paid to CWPS should be adjusted accordingly for the relevant period.

Some Considerations:

Construction Industry Holidays: Benefit is not payable during these holiday periods, however, if the claimant’s employer was open for business and work was available benefit may be payable. We will need a letter from the employer confirming that they were open.
SOLAS Course: If the claimant was attending a course with the Further Education and Training Authority for a certain period of time before the beginning of illness, we will need a letter from the employer confirming the dates that the claimant attended the course.
Sick pay benefit is not paid for weekend and/or public holidays.
Sick pay benefit is not taxed. However, employees should declare it as income when they are making their yearly tax returns.
Please note that evidence from a doctor or hospital is required to ensure sick pay benefit is paid in respect of the correct period of absence. The medical condition (i.e. reason for absence) should not be disclosed as it is not a requirement in order to have your sick pay benefit paid. Please feel free to cross out any sensitive information from a doctor, hospital or social welfare for privacy.

Should you have any questions regarding the Construction Workers’ Pension Scheme or the Sick Pay Trust, please contact us via the contact form here. Alternatively, send an email to sickpay@cwspt.ie.