Sick Leave Starting on the First Day: Does It Really Help?
Prof. Dr. Achim Mortsiefer, a general practitioner and health services researcher at Witten/Herdecke University, doubts that stricter rules will lead to a lasting reduction in sick leave.
In the future, anyone who is sick should see a doctor immediately: The federal government plans to make sick leave certificates mandatory starting on the very first day of illness. The current option of obtaining a sick leave certificate by phone is to be eliminated. The goal of the reform is to curb abuse and reduce the number of sick days.
Prof. Dr. Achim Mortsiefer, holder of the Chair of General Medicine II and Patient-Centered Care in Primary Care at Witten/Herdecke University and a practicing family physician himself, views the plans critically. In his view, they primarily create additional organizational burdens—for employees and medical practices alike.
More bureaucracy, less time for patients in need of care
“The proposed regulation does not directly increase the pressure to go to work despite being sick. However, it does increase the effort required to report sick,” says Mortsiefer. The general practitioner is particularly critical of the consequences for family practice clinics. “A mandatory sick note starting from the first day of illness would massively increase the workload—to the detriment of patients who cannot recover without medical support.”
Mortsiefer considers it questionable whether this would actually reduce the number of sick leave reports. The opposite is even conceivable: “Once a sick person has made it to the doctor’s office, they may be put on sick leave for several days right away.”
Telephone sick leave has proven effective
Mortsiefer is also critical of the planned elimination of sick leave by phone. “We’ve had very good experiences with this tool.” It has eased the burden on medical practices and avoided unnecessary contact, without any evidence of systematic abuse.
The general practitioner fundamentally doubts that stricter rules automatically lead to fewer sick leave reports.
He cites the Netherlands as an example: There, employees can self-report sick leave for an extended period—and yet the sick leave rate is lower than in Germany.
Whether the announced changes will actually be implemented remains to be seen, according to Mortsiefer. “I can hardly imagine that this regulation will come into effect. It would lead to chaos and significant cost increases because far more people would have to visit doctors’ offices just to get a sick note.”