Employers groups have voiced fury at Department of Social Protection proposals to make employers pay the first month of sick pay for employees.
A spokesperson for the Department said that while the proposal was "in the mix" for the Budget along with other measures aimed at securing savings, no decisions had yet been taken.
However, IBEC warned that any move to heap additional costs for sick leave pay onto employers would put struggling firms out of business, cost jobs,and force many companies to cut pay and benefits.
It said taxpayers and business already made significant PRSI contributions to cover the cost of sick leave. They pointed out that even under the existing system, absence levels cost Irish business €1.5 billion a year.
IBEC Director Brendan McGinty described the proposal as an extra tax on employment, at a time when jobs should be the priority. He said it would force employers to re-assess their sick pay policies.
The small enterprises group, ISME, described the proposal as ''daft'' - and another kick in the teeth for small business.
ISME chief executive Mark Fielding accused the Government of having a ''death wish'' for the small business sector, and urged the Government to tackle the huge level of absenteeism in the public sector before further penalising business.
RGDATA, which represents 4,000 family-owned shops and supermarkets employing 90,000 people, said the move would be the final straw for some - putting them out of business and their staff out of jobs.
The Small Firms Association's chairman Ian Martin said that business are already struggling to maintain jobs. He said any measures that add directly to the cost of employment will result in job losses and will act as a strong disincentive to job creation.
''This amounts to an additional flat tax on employment, which all businesses will have to pay regardless of their profitability, and is completely unacceptable,'' he added.
Chambers Ireland deputy chief executive Sean Murphy said the proposal ran contrary to Government rhetoric about supporting business, especially smaller businesses focussed on the domestic economy.
And the general secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, David Begg, said he understood that business would not welcome the idea of more taxes on employment.
However, he said everything had to be viewed against the background of a pretty favourable business situation here - with one of the lowest rates of social insurance, corporation tax and local charges in the OECD.
He pointed out that everyone is bearing a very high burden at the moment - and it was very hard to exclude any section of society from that.
Mr Begg said his priority was to ensure there was a strong legislative base with good enforcement to ensure that employers paid workers all their sick pay entitlements.
