CDU's workers' wing criticizes plans for sick notes from day one

The background to the conflict is an agreement by the coalition committee of the Union and SPD to abolish telephone sick notes. Until now, a telephone notification was generally sufficient for a sick leave of up to three days. Going forward, a medical certificate should become mandatory as of the first day, although employers may deviate from this rule.

Criticism from doctors and business

Numerous doctors in Germany have also criticized the federal government's plans. They fear an overload at already full medical practices. Industry representatives also expect a massive wave of bureaucracy due to the rise in sick notes. Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz had announced the reform last week. He justifies it, among other things, with reference to "die seit Corona exorbitant gewordenen Krankenstände", which represent a competitive disadvantage for Germany.

Oliver Bäte, CEO of insurer Allianz, had previously described Germany in this context as the "Weltmeister" of sick notes. He proposed that no continued pay be made on the first day of illness and estimated the savings at 40 billion euros per year.

Beyond the plans, the abolition of telephone sick notes is causing discussion. Peter Kowatsch, president of the Austrian Society for General and Family Medicine, considers it impractical that patients with mild colds would have to come to general practices for this, where they could infect others, because masks are generally not worn there. Kowatsch advocates reintroducing telephone sick notes for illness periods of up to five days, as was possible at the height of the coronavirus pandemic.

A look at Austria

Kowatsch also emphasizes that feigning illness and faking symptoms is an "absolute Minderheit" among patients. "Es ist extrem wichtig, dass man den Menschen vertraut," he said. Under an existing guideline, doctors can backdate the start of incapacity to work – "nur ausnahmsweise und nur nach gewissenhafter Prüfung und in der Regel nur bis zu drei Tagen".

In Austria, according to the Arbeiterkammer, employees must inform their employer without delay about an incapacity to work. Many employers there already require a medical sick note from day one. The sickness rate in Austria is slightly declining.

Figures on sick days

According to figures from the Austrian Institute of Economic Research (Wifo), dependent employees spent an average of 14.7 calendar days on sick leave last year. Women were slightly more frequently on sick leave with 15.5 days than men with 14.1 days. Christine Mayrhuber from Wifo attributes this difference, among other things, to the rising employment of women, more burdensome working conditions, and the double burden.

In Germany, the Iges Institute records an average of 19.5 sick days per employed person for 2025. The institute attributes part of the increase to the introduction of the electronic sick note (eAU) in 2022, which transmits data directly to the health insurance funds. Regardless of gender, absenteeism rises from age 50 and peaks among employees between 60 and 64 years.

In Austria, according to the current absenteeism report, 44.7 percent of sick notes last year were short-term illnesses of less than four days – compared with 43.2 percent the year before. However, these accounted for only ten percent of all sick days. Mental illnesses accounted for 11.8 percent of sick notes, while the share of musculoskeletal illnesses fell from 22.4 percent in 1994 to 19.1 percent in 2025.

The CDA leadership is now putting pressure on the coalition leadership. Bäumler spoke of a "Riesen-Unmut" among the population. The decision to abolish telephone sick notes had previously been made in the coalition committee of the Union and SPD. The debate over the reform continues.