German Labour Overhaul: Stricter Sick Notes and Longer Fixed-Term Contracts Face Public Opposition

New German labour-law package requires doctor's note from day one, sparks union and public opposition; 72% of employees feel pressure to justify sick leave.

A sweeping package of labour-law changes aimed at lowering Germany’s high sick-leave rate is drawing sharp criticism from unions and a majority of the public, even as a new survey shows that 72 per cent of employees already feel pressure to justify taking time off. Among 18- to 29-year-olds, that figure rises to more than 82 per cent. Roughly 95 per cent of those polled said they had worked while ill at least once, often out of fear of career consequences. The findings, from a Civey survey of 2,000 workers conducted in June, underscore the tense climate that the government’s reform package seeks to address.

At the heart of the coalition agreement reached in July is a plan to require a doctor’s note from the first day of illness, replacing the current rule that employees only need to present a certificate after the fourth day unless the employer demands one earlier. Health Minister Nina Warken has also announced the abolition of telephone-based sick notes, which allowed up to five days of absence for mild conditions, and intends to block online questionnaire assessments that lack direct doctor contact. A September 2025 ruling by the Hamm Regional Court already found such online certificates invalid, though video consultations – offered by only around 20 per cent of practices – would remain permitted. The government is still weighing alternatives, including a waiting period, as Minister of Labour Bas and Minister Warken explore a so-called Karenztage model. Doctors’ associations, including the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians, warn that the stricter rules risk overloading surgeries and adding bureaucracy.

Beyond sick leave, the reform package significantly loosens fixed-term employment rules. The maximum duration for contracts without a substantive reason would double from two to four years, and the number of possible extensions would rise from three to six. A planned repeal of the ban on re-employing former staff under such contracts would give employers more freedom to hire on a temporary basis. The current written-form requirement for fixed-term agreements is set to be abolished on 1 January 2027. Verdi chief Frank Werneke and DGB chairwoman Yasmin Fahimi have denounced the proposals as a weakening of worker protections. Union leaders argue that longer, more flexible fixed-term contracts will increase job insecurity rather than tackle high sick-leave rates.

Public opinion appears to side with the critics. A separate YouGov survey found 59 per cent of respondents opposed the first-day sick-note requirement, and 58 per cent were against scrapping the telephone-based option – even though the latter accounts for only about 0.8 to 1.2 per cent of all sick notes issued. The strong rejection contrasts with the government’s argument that stricter rules are needed to stabilise health insurance contributions. However, the reform package already faces a financing gap estimated at €500 million. To help offset this, the cabinet plans to funnel around €650 million from a proposed sugar tax on sweetened drinks into the health system.

Parallel measures aim to cut bureaucracy. The cabinet has approved a package that would allow company doctors full access to the electronic patient record (ePA) without requiring individual consent each time. Applications for job-promotion benefits are to be digitised, and video-based counselling expanded. The government calculates that eliminating red tape will save the economy roughly €720 million annually. Yet critics question whether these savings will materialise quickly enough to offset the extra administrative burden that medical practices expect from the new sick-note rules.