Germany moves to tighten sick-note rules and end online sick leaves
Published on 07/17/2026 at 07:24 | Redaktion boerse-global.de
German Health Minister Nina Warken of the CDU is planning sweeping changes to how workers report sick. The black-red coalition wants to stop sick notes issued through online questionnaires without any doctor contact and scrap telephone-based sick leave certificates. Video consultations, however, will remain available as a digital option.
Workers will soon have to present a medical certificate from the very first day they are unable to work. Until now, that requirement only applied from the fourth day. Chancellor Merz says the move is intended to reduce sickness absence. In 2025, that stood at an average of 19 days per employee.
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Online certificates generated by internet platforms using automated questionnaires are set to be banned. “Solche Angebote ohne persönlichen Kontakt zu einem Mediziner sollen künftig unterbunden werden", the minister said. The Hamm Regional Labour Court already ruled on 5 September 2025 (Az. 14 SLa 145/25) that such online sick notes have no evidentiary value.
The telephone sick note for minor illnesses among known patients is also being eliminated altogether. Doctors’ representatives warn that this will place a significant extra burden on practices and lead to longer waiting times. Until recently, telephone sick notes accounted for only around 0.8 to 1.2 percent of all AU-Bescheinigungen.
A Civey survey from June 2026 points to strong pressure among younger workers. It found that 72 percent of the 2,000 employed people surveyed feel pressure to justify calling in sick. Among 18- to 29-year-olds, the figure is even higher at over 82 percent.
The same poll found that 95 percent of respondents had already worked while ill. Almost two-thirds fear professional disadvantages if they report sick. One labour lawyer said calling in sick is a legitimate right and employers have no entitlement to the diagnosis. Since 2022, the electronic AU has been sent directly from doctors’ practices; only the duration is visible, not the reason.
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The reform package also includes a financing measure. From 2027, a sugar tax on sweet drinks is to be introduced. It is expected to raise 650 Millionen Euro. The money will initially go into the federal budget, with health insurers receiving higher tax funding in return.
Not every employee will fall under the new first-day certificate rule. Staff covered by collective agreements in the pharmacy sector may be exempt, because existing wage agreements there already regulate proof requirements. The union has criticised the planned legal change as unnecessary, arguing that employers can already demand a certificate from day one.
Video consultations will continue as an alternative. At present, around 20 percent of medical practices offer this form of digital consultation. According to AOK statistics, about 40 percent of AU days are linked to long-term illnesses such as depression, exhaustion states or cancer, even though these account for only a small fraction of total cases.
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