July 4, 2026
Sick burn over sick days
Sick leave: Germany rising but not the worst in Europe
Germany’s sick-day crackdown sparks fury, jokes, and one very gross train image
TLDR: Germany plans to make workers get a doctor’s note in person on the very first day they call in sick, after leaders blamed rising absences for economic pain. Commenters are mostly not buying it, arguing the numbers are misleading and warning the rule could push contagious people onto trains and into offices.
Germany’s new plan to tighten sick leave rules has lit up the comment section like a workplace group chat gone rogue. Chancellor Friedrich Merz says the country’s rising sick days — now about 19.5 per worker each year — are hurting the economy, so from January, people will have to see a doctor in person on day one instead of getting a sick note by phone. On paper, that sounds like a tough-love fix. In the comments, though, people are calling it everything from pointless to downright disgusting.
The loudest reaction? This will just send sick people out into public. One commenter practically painted a horror movie: feverish commuters on the S-Bahn and “a live diarrhea attack” at the clinic. Others argued the numbers are being overhyped, saying the average is probably inflated by a smaller group on long-term leave and doesn’t reflect the typical worker. Translation: the stats may look scary, but commenters think the government might be fighting the wrong villain.
Then came the deeper clash: is this about fairness, or scapegoating workers for a weak economy? Some pointed to OECD data and said sick leave has “zero links with the economy,” while others asked the obvious question: isn’t staying home with the flu actually better for productivity than infecting the whole office? Add in Germany’s generous sick-pay system, better digital reporting, and post-COVID germ awareness, and the comment section’s verdict is messy, sarcastic, and very unconvinced.
Key Points
- •Germany’s average sick leave rose to 19.5 working days per year, up from about 13 days in 2018, according to research published in January by the IGES Institute.
- •Chancellor Friedrich Merz proposed ending telephone sick notes from January next year and requiring workers to visit a doctor in person on the first day of illness.
- •Germany’s sick leave system provides 100% employer-paid salary for up to six weeks, after which statutory health insurance generally pays about 70% of gross pay, capped, for up to 78 weeks for the same illness.
- •The article says 54 out of every 1,000 employees were on sick leave on any given day, and respiratory, mental health, and musculoskeletal conditions account for around half of all sick days.
- •IGES said the rise in recorded sick leave is partly due to the eAU electronic sick note system, which improved tracking, and to post-COVID behavior changes that led more workers to stay home when ill.