FAQ – Sick leave

If you fall ill, you must inform your employer immediately. If you are ill and unable to work, you must inform your workplace before the start of your shift. You also have to say how long you think you will be ill for. You can call in sick by phone, e-mail or a messenger service (like WhatsApp). Depending on what you have agreed with your employer.

It is always best to report your illness in writing. This is the only way you can prove later that you have fulfilled your duty of notifying work.

Please note: you do not have to say why you are ill / what is wrong. If anyone asks, you don’t have to answer.

By law, you must submit a sick note = certificate of incapacity to work to your employer on the 4th calendar day (not working day!) at the latest. However, your employment contract or collective agreement may specify a shorter time / deadline. Always check beforehand. In German, a certificate of incapacity to work may be referred to as an Arbeitsunfähigkeitsbescheinigung, AU-Bescheinigung, Krankschreibung or "gelber Schein".

You will receive the certificate from your doctor. It contains the information that you are unable to work because you are ill. It also states which day you saw the doctor on. The doctor decides how long you will be off sick and enters this date on the sick note.

If you are still ill after this date, you must go back to the doctor. There must be no gap between the last day on your sick note and the next visit to the doctor. Otherwise you do not have a sick note covering this gap.

Please note: if you are ill for a longer period and your sick note is not valid for every day, there may be problems with continued payment of your wages and sick pay.

When you receive a certificate of incapacity to work from the doctor, you must send it immediately by post to your employer and to your health insurance company. You can also send the certificate to your employer by fax or scan. However, he/she can request the original at any time, in which case you have to give it to him/her.

Please note: your employer can refuse to continue paying your salary if you do not present a certificate of incapacity to work!

The certificate of incapacity to work must be submitted to the health insurance company 7 days after the date of issue. If you do not meet this deadline, the health insurance company might not cover any sick pay.

Important: you will usually receive 3 copies of a certificate of incapacity to work.  One is for the employer, one is for the health insurance company and one is for your records.

In future, there will be an electronic procedure for transmitting certificates of incapacity to work to the health insurance companies and the employer. Electronically transmitting certificates of incapacity to work to the health insurance companies has been mandatory for doctors who have the technical means to do so since 2022. Doctors will also continue to issue the certificate in paper form. In future, employers will be able to retrieve data on incapacity to work from the relevant health insurance company when they are informed by their employees that they are unable to work.

Find out from your doctor whether they already do electronic transmission. If not, you must pass on the certificates of incapacity to work to the health insurance company and your employer.  

If you fall ill (and are unable to work), you will continue to receive your salary. This is known as continued payment of wages (Lohnfortzahlung). You will receive this from your employer. So you get the salary that you would normally receive. You also get extra pay as you normally would for working on Sundays, public holidays or nights, for example. These amounts are set out in your employment contract or collective agreement. General wage increases or wage reductions will also be taken into account. You can receive continued payment of your wages for a maximum of 6 weeks.

If you are ill for longer, the health insurance company will pay you sick pay. Even if you have worked less than 4 weeks at a company, you will still receive sick pay.

Please note: your wages will only continue to be paid if you are employed for longer than 4 weeks.

If you are ill for a longer period of time, you will need a sick note or certificate of incapacity to work for the entire period.

Yes, you can be dismissed even if you are ill. The rules on protection against dismissal also apply in this case:

If you work for more than 6 months in a company that has more than 10 employees, you have statutory protection against dismissal. Then your employer needs a reason for the dismissal.

In order to prevent your employer from refusing to accept sick leave or saying that he/she did not receive your sick note, you must be able to prove that you have fulfilled your obligations. It is important that you can prove that you called in sick and handed in your certificate of incapacity to work. This is why you need to call in sick in writing and send your certificate of incapacity to work to your employer by scan (e-mail) or recorded delivery.

Important: Your employer must accept your sick note.

If you are ill and unable to work, you do not have to go to work. If you are ill and do not feel fit for work, this does not automatically mean that you have to go to the doctor immediately. The important thing is that you inform your employer straight away.

You should know what it says in your employment contract or collective agreement and as from which point you have to submit a certificate of incapacity to work. If nothing special is regulated, the following applies: You must have a sick note on the 4th calendar day at the latest. If your employment contract or collective agreement stipulates that you must have a certificate of incapacity to work on the first day, you must go to the doctor on the first day of your illness.

In principle, any licensed doctor (doctor who is authorised to practice the profession) can write you off sick. It is best to make an appointment with your family doctor. He/she can examine you and give you a sick note. If you need a specialist, your family doctor will write you a referral. Specialists can also issue sick notes, but usually you can't get an appointment on the same day.

Sick pay is what you get if you are ill and your employer does not have to continue to pay your wages. You get sick pay, for example, if you are employed for less than 4 weeks. Or if you are off sick for more than 6 weeks.

The health insurance company pays you sick pay. Sick pay is between 70% of gross earnings (without deductions) and 90% of net earnings (with deductions). So you do not get your full salary. Sick pay can be paid for a maximum of 78 weeks (for the same illness).

Please note: if you had an accident at work and are ill as a result of this, you will not receive sick pay, you will receive injury benefits.

If you fall ill while on holiday, you must see a doctor. There, you can get a sick note/certificate of incapacity to work. You must inform your employer immediately about how long you will be ill for and where you currently are. You also need to inform your health insurance company. You should submit the certificate of incapacity to work as soon as possible, but there is no deadline for this.

Important: if you become unable to work while on holiday and take sick leave, you can get the sick days back.

For example, if you were ill for two days and on sick leave, you will get two days of holiday back at the end of your holiday.