If your employment in Germany is governed by local labour law, you may be entitled to continued salary payments or sickness benefits while you are ill. The conditions depend on your length of service with the company and your insurance coverage. Your inability to work must be medically confirmed on time, even when documents are transmitted electronically.
If your health prevents you from working, notify your employer immediately that you are unable to work and indicate how long you expect to be absent. Do not wait for a doctor’s certificate. Where possible, contact your supervisor before your shift starts, using the company’s usual communication method.
Check your employment contract: whom to call, whether a message in the work chat is sufficient, and from which day a medical certificate is required. In Germany, reporting your illness and obtaining a sick note are separate obligations.
You can write: “Guten Morgen, ich bin heute krank und kann nicht arbeiten. Nach dem Arzttermin teile ich Ihnen mit, wie lange ich voraussichtlich ausfalle.” This tells your employer that you cannot work today and that you will provide an estimate of your absence after your appointment.
If you work through an agency in Germany, find out who your legal employer is. Notify that employer, as well as your shift supervisor if internal rules require it. Keep the correspondence.
The process starts with contacting a doctor, usually a family doctor known as a Hausarzt. Bring your health insurance card and explain the nature of your work. The doctor assesses whether your health allows you to perform it.
As a general rule in Germany, if your illness lasts more than three calendar days, medical confirmation is required no later than the next working day. Your employer may require a sick note earlier, including from the first day. Check your company’s rules.
Most employees covered by statutory health insurance in Germany use eAU, the electronic certificate of incapacity for work. The process is as follows:
You usually do not need to take a paper sick note to the payroll department. Keep a copy for yourself in case the electronic transmission fails.
There are exceptions to the eAU process in Germany: private health insurance, a certificate from a doctor abroad or one outside the statutory healthcare system, and a Minijob in a private household. In these cases, check how to submit the paper documents.
Germany distinguishes between continued salary payments, known as Entgeltfortzahlung, and sickness benefits paid by the health insurance fund, known as Krankengeld. Different conditions apply to these payments.
The right to continued salary payments usually arises after four weeks of uninterrupted employment with the same employer. Provided the legal conditions are met, the employer pays for up to six weeks of incapacity caused by the same illness. Being on sick leave during a probationary period in Germany does not, by itself, remove this right.
The calculation is based on the pay the employee would have received for their normal working hours. By law, overtime pay is not included in this calculation. The payment may therefore differ from what you received in a month when you worked many additional hours.
If you become ill during your first four weeks in a new job in Germany, contact your Krankenkasse. If you are entitled to Krankengeld, the fund may pay the benefit. If your sick leave continues beyond that period, payments from the employer usually begin on the 29th day of employment.
Once the period of continued salary payments has ended, an employee with the appropriate statutory insurance coverage in Germany may receive Krankengeld. The benefit amounts to 70% of regular gross earnings subject to contributions, but no more than 90% of calculated net earnings. A statutory maximum also applies.
A simplified example: with gross earnings of €3,000 and net earnings of €2,300, the amounts compared are €2,100 and €2,070. The lower amount, €2,070, is used. The actual payment will be lower because the relevant social insurance contributions are deducted. The fund performs the precise calculation.
For the same illness in Germany, the overall limit is 78 weeks within a three-year period, including the period paid by the employer. A new sick note for the same condition does not necessarily restart the clock.
A Minijob alone does not provide entitlement to Krankengeld, although entitlement to continued salary payments may exist. With private insurance in Germany, compensation for a prolonged loss of income depends on separate insurance coverage.
Keep track of the end date on your certificate. If recovery is taking longer, arrange a follow-up appointment in advance. To maintain uninterrupted Krankengeld payments, continued incapacity due to the same illness must be medically confirmed no later than the next working day. Saturdays do not count as working days for this rule.
For example, if your sick note expires on Friday and there are no public holidays, the extension must be confirmed no later than Monday. Do not leave booking an appointment until the last moment. After the appointment, inform your employer of the new period of absence.
Extending sick leave requires the doctor to reassess your condition. A gap in medical confirmation may mean no payments for the unconfirmed days. Check the dates on your documents.
In Germany, your diagnosis is confidential. Your employer usually only needs to know that you are unable to work and how long this is expected to last. Your diagnosis is not transmitted to the employer through eAU.
Sick leave does not mean you must remain at home at all times. Permitted activities depend on your health: going to the pharmacy or taking a walk may not interfere with treatment. Avoid activities that delay recovery and follow your doctor’s recommendations.
Sick leave does not create an absolute ban on dismissal. Whether a dismissal is lawful depends on its grounds and the applicable employee protection rules. If you receive written notice, seek advice promptly: the general deadline for bringing a court challenge is three weeks from receipt.
To avoid unnecessary problems with sick leave in Germany, notify your employer on time, obtain medical confirmation of your incapacity, and keep your documents. If payments differ from what you expected, ask the payroll department or your health insurance fund to explain the calculation.
