Disease-related payroll costs firms a record total of €85.6 billion by 2025

According to a calculation, German companies spent more last year than ever before on continued payment of wages in the event of illness.

Expenses totaled 85.6 billion euros in 2025, according to a study by the employer-related German Economic Institute (IW), which the “Rheinische Post” reported on.

This means that the nominal costs of continuing to pay sickness-related wages have more than doubled within a decade and a half. In 2024 it was 81.2 billion euros.

In addition to the 72.5 billion euros in gross wages reported by the Federal Ministry of Labor, the total also includes the employer contributions to social security estimated by the IW. These amounted to 13.1 billion euros.

The institute attributes the increase to, among other things, higher wages and increased employment. Sick leave also contributed to the higher expenses. Since the introduction of electronic recording of certificates of incapacity for work in 2022, sick leave has increased statistically significantly. However, it has not yet been conclusively clarified whether actual absences from work have also increased at the same time. However, the level is significantly higher than before the corona pandemic.

The institute is cautious about the planned statutory requirement to provide a certificate from the first day of illness. A comprehensive application by employers is not necessarily to be expected due to the additional administrative burden and possible burdens on the relationship between employees and employers.