Germany Is Tightening Their Sick Leave Regulations

[RAMROD 117,156]

 

The German government on Thursday announced a package of 34 economic reforms designed to boost growth, reduce bureaucracy and address long-term challenges facing Europe's largest economy.

Among the most talked-about measures is a proposed overhaul of sick leave regulations. If approved, employees would no longer be able to take short-term sick leave without providing medical documentation when requested by their employer. The reforms would also limit the practice of obtaining a week-long sick note through a phone consultation without physically visiting a doctor.

According to the government, the changes are intended to ensure greater accountability and reduce workplace absenteeism. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz had repeatedly complained that the rate of sick leave is too high in Germany and harming the country's productivity.

“From the very beginning, we set an agenda with a single goal in mind: We want to get Germany back on track. It is now clear that this is possible,” the conservative chancellor said.

“We can no longer accept the extraordinarily high levels of sick leave in our companies,” Merz told reporters. “We are abolishing sick leave by phone and introducing the requirement to submit a medical certificate from the very first day of illness,” he added.

“We know this is a tough decision, but we can no longer afford this competitive disadvantage caused by prolonged absences from work.” Merz has said the changes are needed to kickstart Germany’s economy, which has been struggling since the COVID pandemic and dealt blows by the war in Ukraine and Iran.

Under Germany’s former policy, workers in Germany were allowed to take up to six weeks of paid leave for an illness. If the employee falls ill from a different sickness, the six-week paid leave starts again. That’s on top of the six weeks of vacation time that most employees get.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz has repeatedly argued that Germany's high rate of sick leave is affecting productivity and economic performance.

Under the proposed rules:

Employers may request a doctor's certificate from the first day of illness.
Workers may no longer be able to stay home for several days without medical proof if an employer asks for documentation.
Obtaining extended sick leave through a simple phone call to a doctor could become more difficult.
Verification requirements for medical leave may become stricter across workplaces.

 

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/new-updates/germany-changes-sick-leave-policy-we-are-abolishing-sick-leave-by-phone-says-chancellor-merz-doctors-note-required-from-day-one-of-illness/articleshow/132153626.cms?from=mdr

[sarahb 17,201]

This will probably just make productivity worse because more people will show up sick to work and get everyone else sick because they didn't wanna have to see a doctor. 

[SleepingSun 1,413]

Don't get me started on this. Friedrich Merz and his lobbyist friends are currently destroying our country so him and his friends can get even richer. It's a tragedy, and I am glad people and even some big companies are boycotting them more and more. We need to get this blackrock puppet out of our government. 

Edited July 5 by SleepingSun

[Helxig 45,384]

This is actually f.ucked. If my country decides to follow suit I will nuke the whole place. It's over

[CautiousLurker 19,710]

F*ck these greedy a$$holes, may the worst fate befall them 

I feel like it's become a trend everywhere for government people with the cushiest jobs to basically openly tell workers they're lazy and dishonest - a projection if I've ever seen one 

I feel this deeply cuz that's how my employer treats me despite me being a top performer at my work place, I've long made it my resolve to live up to their opinion - you think I'm lazy, that I'm facking health issues, b*tch f*cking BET, I'll show you what lazy looks like 
And I encourage everyone else to do the same (unless you're working for yourself) 

[OMF 3,668]

I thought this was normal anyway? If you need to take several days off work sick you do need to present a medical certificate. This is pretty normal in Australia at least but depends on the employer as well

[TheARTPOPball 1,649]

I think society everywhere would benefit from finding a way to work less and still sustain ourselves . I can only speak for America but the way jobs get away with so much and hustle culture in general is getting exhausting. I live with my parents but I genuinely don’t know how I would get through a 40 hour work week, every week, no matter what, unless I’m sick and in response to being sick must go physically see a doctor. I lived that life before and I’ve never felt worse and more depressed/unmotivated . Lost so much weight, was skin and bones, always was tired, spent my off days sleeping ALL day, dark circles under my eyes. I hated my life. 
 

any law or regulation passed to restrict work/ life balance should be looked at as enemy legislation. 

[Bronco 25,223]

22 minutes ago, OMF said:

I thought this was normal anyway? If you need to take several days off work sick you do need to present a medical certificate. This is pretty normal in Australia at least but depends on the employer as well

I know in the UK you can only self certify for 5 continuous days and any longer than that requires a sick note. 
And employers are able to count it as 5 unbroken days if you say take 2 days off, work 1 and then try to take 3 days off. 

[HatsuChan 62]

Guys, the way sick leaves work in Germany is very liberal. If there’s anyone to blame it’s people who overuse right to get sick leave. And it’s pretty common in Germany. I have family there, I work with German people on daily basis and trust me, some of them are rarely showing up to work  

I understand it’s controversial. I would get mad too if someone tried to take it from me. 

[bpmMonkey 7,737]

Not german health care politics making it into this forum..

I have many problems with the proposed reforms, the sick day thingy ain't one of them tbh. You need a doctors notice for the first day, yes, but you can still get them 3 or even 4 days dating back. Plus, company policy still trumps federal law here, so if your place of work is fine with you handing in your notice on day two it's fine. 
Theres a lot more worrying stuff in the proposal.. 

[VelvetVenus 169]

In my country you have to present a medical documentation even if you are out for a few hours, which I think it is too much

I fear everywhere in the world the conditions are getting worse for workers

It is so hard to get rights and I feel they fade away with a blink of an eye most of the times

[Idefix1999 459]

Some years ago we could have had a green chancellor... 

But they made him go away from politics because he wanted to change things for the better, which would have made people come out of her comfort zone. I remember when he managed the energy crisis in 2021 when Russia attacked Ukraine and people hated him for everything he hid, even if it helped people.

And where is the same outrage for this government that is much much worse? But it's not a green or left party in the government, so it's fine, I guess

[nATAH 57,065]

this is my reality anyway lol i don't get any sick pay unless it's a long term sickness with a note but then we get paid less than the regular pay check

if we call in sick more than 3 times a year, we get a written disciplinary, even if you've been working there more than 10 years, still no sick pay

one of the older ladies broke her finger on a bus and she had to come in before it was fully healed cus she couldn't afford to stay off any longer 

[Mother of Puppies 36,615]

This is soooo stupid and will result in people being "more sick" cuz if u have to show up to the doc from day 1 docs will let them stay home for 5 days cuz they dont wanna see them again in 2 days... without this whole thing people would've maybe stayed home for maybe 1 day and now it'll become 5 days lol and a part of people if they rlly are sick and lets say have a cold will show up sick to work and spread all the gems to the other people 

docs don't even know where to put all the poeple anyway so now the wait time will be even longer especially for the people who rlly need to go to the doc.. ARGHH politics in germany make me so fuckin mad I could write a whole essay on this 

 

anyways, this comes from someone who has exactly 1 sick day in 3 years because I worked while being rlly sick (because I work from home lol) and yes, this was stupid I won't be doin that again but basically didnt have a chance

Edited July 5 by Mother of Puppies

[Economy 52,861]

6 hours ago, CautiousLurker said:

F*ck these greedy a$$holes, may the worst fate befall them 

I feel like it's become a trend everywhere for government people with the cushiest jobs to basically openly tell workers they're lazy and dishonest - a projection if I've ever seen one 

I feel this deeply cuz that's how my employer treats me despite me being a top performer at my work place, I've long made it my resolve to live up to their opinion - you think I'm lazy, that I'm facking health issues, b*tch f*cking BET, I'll show you what lazy looks like 
And I encourage everyone else to do the same (unless you're working for yourself) 

Tbh i dont think its just a projection but i think theres some reality here too. If my work place absent rates say anything, i seriously doubt every one of those people that are sick at least 3 times a month actually are every time. The frequency is actually pretty stagering. Im one of the leads at work (so i see and am informed of attendance stats) and some people in a 12 month period have had about 30 absenses and its not just 1 or 2 people out of 60 employees in our branch at least 6 or 7 have rates that high so its not some extreme rarity. We dont require doctors notes and we have a policy of not questioning to not risk outbreaks but that policy is currently being reviewed because for the people who say people taking too many sick days if you have the freedom isnt a thing, I kinda beg to differ tbh.

 

Still tho, i do not support this just because this is gonna end up pressuring people to either come in when they are in fact sick, or have to go to doctor when they feel like crap and should be resting

 

But im just saying, theres bad apples who ruin trust and its not as if playing hookie is not a thing and some people seem to genuinely think it doesnt happen when it clearly does. I may not support forced notes but ive simultaneously also lost trust that people dont abuse it 

Edited July 5 by Economy