The federal government is planning a medical certificate of incapacity for work from the first day of illness

Berlin. The federal government considers sickness-related absences in Germany to be too high. This is also currently costing companies a lot of money. According to calculations by the employer-related German Economic Institute (IW), companies paid 85.6 billion euros last year for continued payment of wages in the event of illness. Ten years ago it was 54 billion euros.

If the Union has its way, employees should be sent to the doctor on the first day of illness. Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) in particular is pushing for stricter rules. “Are we really such a sick people that we have to have one of the highest sickness rates in Europe?” he asked back in the spring.

The government now wants to reduce absenteeism with a medical certificate of incapacity for work from the first day of illness. Although the CDU has prevailed in the coalition with the project, there is a dispute with its coalition partner about its benefits.

Labor Minister Bärbel Bas (SPD) considers the content of the rule to be incorrect. The SPD only agreed grudgingly. Bas’s specific concern: “If I have to go to the doctor on the first day, he might write me off sick for a week.” A sick day might be enough. This means that there are two opposing points of view. Who is right?