Legal Challenge and Data Dispute Cloud Germany’s First-Day Sick-Note Plan

Germany’s coalition government faces a new hurdle as the Greens filed an urgent motion at the Federal Constitutional Court on Wednesday, seeking to halt a planned vote on a sweeping healthcare savings package that includes mandatory in-person doctor’s certificates from the first day of illness. The vote is scheduled for Friday. Opposition parties—including the Left and AfD—argue that last-minute changes spanning nearly 300 pages leave no adequate time for review.

The telephone sick note, introduced during the pandemic and currently allowed for minor ailments, would be abolished under the proposal. Critics say that move rests on shaky evidence. AOK chairwoman Carola Reimann stressed that there is no proof of abuse: data from insurers shows that phone-based certificates account for just 0.8 to 1.2 percent of all sick-leave documents.

Researchers from the DIW and the IGES Institute point to a different explanation for the rise in reported sick days. Germany’s shift to the electronic Arbeitsunfähigkeitsbescheinigung (eAU) has drastically improved recording accuracy. The statistical jump from an average of 18 days off per worker in 2016 to as many as 24.9 days in 2022 is primarily driven by better data capture and an increase in long-term illnesses, not by employees faking short absences.

Doctors are pushing back hard. Nicola Buhlinger-Göpfarth of the Hausärzteverband called the plan “pure symbolic politics.” She calculates that forcing every employee with a cold to visit a surgery would generate roughly 30 million extra consultations nationwide each year. The Kassenärztliche Vereinigung Baden-Württemberg puts the burden for its state alone at about 3 million additional visits annually. Physicians also warn that packed waiting rooms would raise infection risks for people with mild, contagious conditions.

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Politicians are digging in. Union parliamentary deputy leader Jens Spahn defended the tightening in early July, framing it as a matter of fairness toward colleagues who do not call in sick. Green politician Ricarda Lang countered on Wednesday that the measure is a mistake that would produce more sick days, not fewer. Alexander Schweitzer, acting SPD state leader in Rhineland-Palatinate, urged pragmatism, cautioning against placing all employees under general suspicion.

The business community is split. The Unternehmer Baden-Württemberg employer association welcomes the move as a necessary signal against potential fraud. But companies on the ground see it differently. Ziehl-Abegg, a maker of fans and motors, notes that short illnesses without a doctor visit often heal faster when people rest at home. Worker representatives from the CDA and unions warn the opposite: if an employee is forced to see a doctor on day one, they often end up taking the entire week off instead of just one day. Major industrial firms like Bosch, Zeiss, and Stihl say they will study the impact carefully before taking a position.

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