Germany to require sick note on first day of illness
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- Chancellor Friedrich Merz's coalition (CDU and SPD) agreed to require workers to provide a doctor's note on the first day of illness and scrapped the option to obtain one by phone, a Covid-era measure.
- Merz said the number of sick days in Germany is too high and framed the shift as a return to pre-pandemic rules needed to fix a "competitive disadvantage" from long absences.
- Under current rules, a sick note is only required from the fourth day of illness, though employers can request one earlier; around 18 sick days per employee per year is cited by CDU's Jens Spahn as among the highest in the EU.
- Medical groups, including the KBV (statutory health insurance physicians) and the Association of General Practitioners, called the plan "madness," warning contagious patients would flood waiting rooms.
- SPD leader and Vice-Chancellor Lars Klingbeil said he was seeking "workable solutions," while Labour Minister Bärbel Bas said the first-day requirement "wasn't my proposal" and pledged to investigate whether it would work.
- The reforms were agreed as part of a broader package of tax, labour, and pension changes aimed at reviving Germany's economy.
Why it matters: The policy exposes daylight inside the governing coalition: the SPD publicly distanced itself from a flagship labour reform, and Germany's family doctors warned the rule could backfire by pushing contagious patients into clinics. With roughly 18 sick days per worker annually among the EU's highest, Merz is betting that tightening rules boosts economic output, but the immediate test is whether Klingbeil and Bas can soften the requirement before it takes effect.
