Germans must now have doctor’s note to call in sick to work: ‘Extraordinarily high levels of sick leave’

Herr doktor must see you now.

Germany is cracking down on sick days, and will now require workers to provide a doctor’s note before taking leave.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who has repeatedly bemoaned Germany’s generous sick day policy, hailed the change as necessary to bolster the country’s economy.

“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.”

Under Germany’s former policy, workers 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.

Germany’s new sick day policy is a notable change from the nation known for its employee-friendly policies and where many companies hail the four-day work week.

Along with more strict requirements for sick days, Germany also passed reforms that would gradually increase the retirement age from 65 to 67 and allow employers more flexibility to hire short-term workers.

German workers reportedly took advantage of the policy, with employees taking an average of 14.8 sick days a year, according to a survey from German tabloid Bild. 

That’s about twice as much as what the average American worker has in the private sector, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The need for a doctor’s note, however, could cause a “catastrophic” clog in the nation’s health system, Markus Blumenthal-Beier, the head of the German Association of General Practitioners, told the RND media group.  

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.