German workers will be required to visit a doctor in person from the first day they fall ill to obtain a sick note under strict new proposals introduced by Chancellor Friedrich Merz, in a move aimed at boosting productivity in Europe’s largest economy….
German workers will be required to visit a doctor in person from the first day they fall ill to obtain a sick note under strict new proposals introduced by Chancellor Friedrich Merz, in a move aimed at boosting productivity in Europe’s largest economy.
The planned reform would mark a significant shift from the current system, where employees can obtain sick certification over the phone and are not required to present a note until the third day of absence.
“The number of sick days is too high,” Mr Merz, the German chancellor, told journalists. “We are creating a set of tools that will enable those involved, both employees and companies, to correct this.”
“We know this is a tough decision. But we can no longer afford the competitive disadvantage caused by prolonged absences from work,” he added.
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Under the proposals, workers would need to report to a doctor immediately when taking sick leave, a move expected to be welcomed by employers but strongly opposed by trade unions and medical professionals.
The Telegraph reported that, Frank Werneke, head of the services union Verdi, accused the government of fostering distrust in the workplace, warning that the policy amounts to “a culture of distrust of employees”.
Doctors also criticised the plan, saying it would place unnecessary pressure on healthcare services.
“Our practices would be flooded with patients who don’t need in-person care and would be better off in bed,” said the German Association of Family Physicians, describing the proposal as “an absolute catastrophe”.
The debate comes as Germany records an average of around 15 working days of sick leave per worker annually—lower than France and most Nordic countries, but higher than Sweden, the Netherlands, Denmark, Poland and Italy.
In Britain, 149 million working days were lost to sickness or injury last year, accounting for about 2 per cent of total working hours, with workers taking an average of more than four days off.
British employees are currently not required to submit a doctor’s note until they have been absent for seven days.
Mr Merz’s proposal forms part of a wider reform package agreed between his centre-right Christian Democratic Union and its coalition partner, the Social Democratic Party, aimed at improving productivity and stabilising public finances.
The measures also include reducing bureaucracy and gradually increasing the retirement age from 67 to as high as 70 in the coming decades.
He has also proposed tax cuts for lower- and middle-income earners, to be funded through higher taxes on individuals earning more than €250,000 (£215,000).
“It may have taken longer than many hoped, but Germany’s long-awaited summer of reforms has finally arrived,” said Carsten Brzeski, an economist at ING.
“It is not a package that will morph a stagnating economy into a booming economy overnight. But it is a package that could create the preconditions, the framework, for future growth.”
