Overview
- The government has confirmed it will abolish pandemic-era telephone sick notes and require workers to see a doctor in person on the first day of sick leave as part of a 34-point economic reform package.
- Medical groups and GPs warned the rule will overload already stretched primary-care clinics and could force genuinely ill people to leave home to obtain paperwork.
- A 2025 IGES report for insurer DAK Gesundheit found the average German worker took 19.5 sick days and recorded a near 7% rise in mental-health absences, information the government cites to justify the change.
- Germany’s electronic sick-note system, in full use since 2023, made short absences easier to track by sending doctor certificates directly to insurers and employers, increasing measured sick-leave totals.
- The proposal has split the governing coalition and drawn union opposition, and it follows similar tighter sick-leave moves across Europe that aim to reduce long absences while raising concerns about health‑service strain.