Workers in Germany were absent from work due to illness for an average of 15 days a year. After the release of these data for 2023, reactions were not long in coming. Germany is the "world champion in sick leave", said Oliver Bethe, CEO of the "Allianz" insurance group. As is well known, paid sick leave increases the costs of the healthcare system.
But are Germans fakers? Markus Bayer, chairman of the German Association of General Practitioners, categorically disagrees. He told DW: "No, we are not a nation of fakers. What I see every day in my office corresponds to the analyses of health insurance companies in recent months: more and more people are coming in with acute infections. This is partly a consequence of the pandemic." Klaus Reinhard, chairman of the German Medical Association, also shares the same opinion.
Both the age of employees and the number of illnesses are increasing
When the German Economic Institute recently announced that employers had to allocate a record 76.7 billion euros for sick leave in 2023, the leader of the Free Democratic Party, Christian Lindner, questioned the practice of taking sick leave by phone. Since December 2023, patients in Germany have been able to get a sick leave certificate from their GP for a maximum of five days by phone. The question is whether paid sick leave has increased so much because it is so easy to obtain?
Markus Bayer denies this too: "There is absolutely no evidence to suggest that the high rate of sick leave is related to the possibility of taking sick leave by phone. This only applies to people who are patients of the relevant practice and whose medical history is known. We have not encountered any significant abuses".
The chairman of the Association of German General Practitioners is rather inclined to believe that one of the reasons for the high morbidity rate in Germany may be the introduction of electronic sick notes. Since not all patients previously sent their sick notes to the health insurance companies, not all sick notes were registered. Since January 1, 2023, this indicator has already been 100 percent.
There is also something else: "The average age of the population and employees is increasing. This also increases the number of chronic diseases and sick days".
The consequences for the German economy
However plausible the reasons for the high sick leave rates are, they have a huge impact on Germany as a place to do business.
A year ago, the Association of Pharmaceutical Research Companies concluded in a study that this was one of the reasons Germany fell into recession. That is why the head of the study, Klaus Michelsen, is not surprised by the renewed debate about sick Germans. He told DW: "We are still a country with a relatively high morbidity rate. Germany is, so to speak, sicker than other European countries. This is felt economically and has an impact on the economy. For 2023, we calculated that production would be almost 0.8 percent higher if the level of morbidity was normal.
Abolition of paid sick leave on the first day?
According to the head of "Allianz" Oliver Bethe, if paid sick leave on the first day of illness were abolished, this could save 40 billion euros per year. However, the idea was met with a knife: The German Confederation of Trade Unions warned of the risk of increased costs and more infections and accidents if sick people were allowed to go to work. And the Metalworkers' Union described the accusation of employees faking as brazen.
Klaus Michelsen, for his part, recommends paying attention to the practice in some Scandinavian countries. "For example, Sweden has successfully implemented a partial sick leave model that allows people to work from home in case of minor illnesses."
Germany was one of the first countries in the world to adopt a universal sick leave scheme. The regulation, introduced in 1884, guarantees 100 percent of income for up to six weeks - from the first day of illness.
Instead of changing this rule, Klaus Michelsen recommends taking preventive measures to reduce the incidence of illness.