Employees have to prepare for stricter rules and more frequent visits to the practice if they cannot go to work due to illness. The black-red coalition is planning significantly stricter requirements that are intended to curb high levels of absenteeism in companies, as Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) made clear. In the future, the legal rule will be that you need a doctor’s note from the first day of absence instead of on the fourth day. Sick notes by telephone should no longer be possible.
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Why is the tightening coming?
Merz said: “The number of sick days in Germany is too high.” And you can’t accept “exorbitant” sick leave after the Corona crisis. “This is a tough decision,” he explained, referring to the agreements in the coalition committee. “But we can no longer afford this competitive disadvantage caused by long absences from the company.”
In future, the legal rule for absenteeism will be that a certificate of incapacity for work will be mandatory on the first day of illness. Employees then have to go straight to the practice and cannot stay at home and see whether they are feeling better after the first day. Currently, a certificate is required if you are unable to work for more than three calendar days, i.e. on the fourth day. However, employers are entitled to request presentation of the certificate earlier.
How should this be implemented specifically?
Merz explained that it is about a framework regulation in the law – with concrete implementation on site. “Companies can deviate from this, either through individual contractual agreements between employees and the company or through a company agreement or through a collective agreement.”
What about telephone sick leave?
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It has been possible to take a sick note without visiting the practice since the end of 2023 – if you are known to the practice and do not have any severe symptoms. The model was a special regulation from Corona times to avoid infections. The option to use the telephone should now be eliminated, as a CDU party conference recently demanded. Because the easier it is to have a sick note, the more likely it is to make the “bedside decision” for it, it was said.
When should the new rules apply?
The schedule is still unclear. The rules for submitting sick notes are in the Continued Payment of Remuneration Act, which would have to be changed to achieve this. Telephone sick notes are regulated in a guideline from the Federal Joint Committee of Doctors, Health Insurance Companies and Clinics. This could be entrusted with a change or repeal by law.
What do the practice doctors say?
Medical representatives immediately reacted with horror. The National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KBV) protested that it borders on madness to drive thousands upon thousands of people into practices just to fill out forms. “Anyone who coughs or has a gastrointestinal infection belongs in bed – and not in the overcrowded practice.” The KBV had even suggested a relaxation so that you only had to present a certificate after the fourth or fifth day of illness. The General Practitioners Association warned that cases of infection that only required a day or two in bed would pile up in the waiting rooms.
What effect do the stricter rules have?
The black and red thrust is clear: the number of days of absence should be reduced. It might put some people off having to go to a practice on the first day. The Confederation of German Employers’ Associations explained that the coalition was rightly reacting to the high sickness rate compared to international standards. Bavaria’s Economics Minister Hubert Aiwanger (Free Voters) pointed out that in some cases patients would be allowed to be on sick leave for three days instead of one day. “We might even end up with more sick days.”
How high is the sick leave anyway?
According to evaluations by large health insurance companies, absences from work due to illness remained at a high level last year. At DAK-Gesundheit, employees were absent for 19.5 calendar days, almost as long as in 2024 with 19.7 days absent – mostly due to respiratory infections, mental illnesses and problems such as back pain. In general, health insurance companies point out that a noticeable increase in absenteeism in 2022 was also due to the fact that sick notes have since been sent directly digitally from the practices to the health insurance companies.
What else is planned?
The coalition is also aiming for stronger punishment for incorrectly issuing certificates of incapacity for work – false health certificates currently face fines or up to two years in prison. The German Medical Association spoke of an affront in placing the medical profession under general suspicion. Health Minister Nina Warken (CDU) is already planning to introduce partial sick leave. In the event of a longer illness, employees should only be able to take partial sick leave if they and the employer want it – namely for 25, 50 or 75 percent of the usual weekly working hours.
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