Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz this week announced a ban on large numbers of sick days in the country.
The move follows research published in January by the Berlin-based IGES Institute showing that German workers now take an average of 19.5 working days per year as sick leave.
This figure is a significant increase compared to about 13 days in 2018.
As part of Merz’s proposals, from January next year, staff will no longer be able to receive sick notes over the phone. They should visit the doctor in person and on the first day of illness.
This measure adds a layer of difficulty to taking time off work due to illness.
Merz said that large numbers of absenteeism were hurting Germany’s economy, adding, “We can no longer afford this competitive loss caused by long absences from work.”
He framed this action as an effort to restore “fairness and efficiency” in the labor market, allowing employers and health insurers to react more assertively to frequent absenteeism.
The changes are part of a larger package of reforms to health and social security programs agreed to by the ruling coalition made up of Merz’s conservative coalition and center-left Social Democrats.
How does Germany’s sick leave system work?
Germany has one of the most generous sick leave systems in the world.
Employees are entitled to have 100% of their salary paid by the employer for up to six weeks of sick leave. A doctor’s note is usually required after a three-day absence.
After six weeks’ sick leave, statutory health insurance takes over, paying approximately 70% of the gross salary with a limit of up to 78 weeks within three years for the same illness.
Along with preventing workers from losing income due to ill health, the system also encourages proper recovery to prevent employees from spreading germs at work.
Germany’s system differs from that of many other countries.
In the United States, there is no requirement for federal paid sick leave. Many workers get no or only a few days off, depending on their employer.
In India, paid sick leave under labor laws is often only a few days per year. Many brief absences are unpaid and rules vary widely by company, region, and state.
At home, Germany’s sick leave system is often criticized by politicians and business leaders as leading to increased absenteeism, which they say hurts productivity and competitiveness.
Germany’s economy is struggling due to a number of issues including increasing competition from China, geopolitics and high energy costs. The government is considering ways to promote development.
However, critics of Merz’s reforms argue that this action risks stigmatizing a legitimate disease and placing blame for the country’s economic problems on an increasingly aging population of workers.
Why has Germany become the ‘sick man’ of Europe?
A major reason for the increase in sick leave is better reporting, IGES wrote in its report published in January.
This is thanks to the country’s new electronic sick note system (EAU), which comes into full effect in 2023.
Doctors now send certificates directly to the health insurer and employers can receive them digitally, making tracking more accurate.
IGES argued that many short absences that previously went unrecorded on paper were now recorded in the data.
Another factor is changes in behavior during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, as employees have become more aware of spreading germs.
IGES found that people are now more likely to stay at home when they have a cold or flu, which is positive for public health but has led to an increase in sick days.
Mental health problems have also increased as a reason for absenteeism. Musculoskeletal problems, such as back pain, remain one of the leading causes of illness.
According to IGES research, which was conducted for the health insurer DAK-Gesundheit, health care workers have the highest rates of sick leave.
The number of people associated with data processing and information technology is the lowest.
How does Germany compare to other countries?
The easiest way to compare is to use data from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
However, the OECD calculates sick leave from a 7-day week rather than working days, so this is not a direct comparison to the IGES data.
Germany reached an average of 3.5 weeks, or 24.5 days, last year, according to OECD data. Of this, countries are certainly not the worst offenders, with Norway, Spain and Slovenia reaching five weeks and more in 2025.
Finland (4.8 weeks), France (4.1), Portugal (4.0) and Belgium (3.9) also have higher absenteeism rates than Germany.
Many Eastern and Southern European states have very low sick leave rates, with Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey, Greece and Hungary taking an average of one week or less per year, while Polish workers take an average of 1.8 weeks (8 or 9 days).
OECD data, which covers 32 of its 38 member countries, shows Americans took 1.1 weeks of sick leave in 2024, the most recent year for which figures are available.
Edited by: Andreas Becker