Overview
- The Health Ministry’s expert commission proposed a four-step sick-leave system to replace Germany’s current all-or-nothing model.
- Treating physicians would certify 100, 75, 50 or 25 percent incapacity with the patient’s consent and adjust the level as health changes.
- The report says graded notes could ease phased returns to work, help people with mental illness keep daily structure, and prevent skill loss after long absences.
- The commission warns against employer pressure and stresses medical judgment, while the DGB and Sozialverband Deutschland oppose the plan over health risks from early returns.
- Any shift would need changes to social law and workplace procedures and would move Germany closer to Scandinavian systems that already allow partial incapacity.