Overview
- Leaders of the Union and SPD are weighing cuts to employer sick pay, with media reports pointing to a shorter period or a once-per-year cap on the obligation.
- Any cut would push workers sooner onto insurer-paid sickness benefit, which pays about 70% of gross wages and is capped at roughly 90% of net pay.
- The ideas are unconfirmed and based on reports citing government circles, and unions are expected to oppose them.
- Under current law, employers pay full wages for up to six weeks when a worker is ill, provided the job has lasted at least four weeks and the incapacity was not self-inflicted.
- A recent report on a ruling in Schleswig-Holstein showed no pay was due when a fresh tattoo became infected, illustrating how self-caused illness can void the claim.