Germany Launches Voluntary Partial Sick Leave for Workers Off Four Weeks or More

After losing 881M workdays in 2024 costing €134B, Germany introduces voluntary partial sick leave for long-term ill employees, blending work hours with insurance pay to reduce permanent incapacity.

Germany lost 881 million workdays to illness in 2024, costing employers an estimated €134 billion in lost production, according to the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Facing those numbers, the federal government approved a scheme in late April that will allow employees to return to work gradually while still on sick leave. The model, called partial incapacity for work, lets staff work a reduced schedule without losing their medical certification.

Participation is voluntary and restricted to people whose illness lasts longer than four weeks. A doctor must confirm the employee’s reduced capacity to work and approve the partial return. Three levels are available: 25, 50, or 75 percent of the contractual hours. The employer also has to agree — and can refuse. Where possible, companies are encouraged to use remote work to make the transition easier.

Advertisement

While Germany experiments with partial sick leave to curb absenteeism costs, many UK employers may be overlooking a more fundamental issue: compliance with the Health & Safety at Work Act. Unwitting violations can lead to penalties and increased workplace injuries. A free toolkit helps you identify gaps with a simple checklist and provides 9 tools to get your documentation right. Check your compliance with the free Health & Safety at Work Act Toolkit

Financing is layered. For the first six weeks, standard employer-subsidised sick pay applies. After that, a new partial sick payment kicks in from the health insurance fund. The employee’s total income then blends the proportional salary for hours worked with the insurance payout. The government expects this to relieve pressure on Germany’s statutory health insurers. For 2027, it forecasts savings of €40 million, rising to €160 million annually by 2030. The IGES Institute backs the policy, arguing that a flexible return reduces the likelihood of permanent incapacity.

The new rule closely resembles the Hamburg model, which has offered staged reintegration since 1989. The key difference is tighter integration with sick-pay law, making the right to partial income replacement explicit rather than relying on case-by-case agreements.

Not everyone is convinced. Experts warn that the scheme could pile extra paperwork onto doctors and HR departments. They also worry that chronically ill employees may feel coerced into returning prematurely despite lingering health problems.

The partial sick leave measure is one component of a broader cost-cutting package. From 2027, the federal subsidy to the statutory health insurance system will shrink by €2 billion, dropping to €12.5 billion, as the government tries to stabilise contribution rates.