Overview
- Coalition leaders put a mandatory medical note from the first day of absence into a joint reform paper agreed at a caucus meeting in Münster as part of a year‑end implementation package.
- SPD chair and Labour Minister Bärbel Bas told the Funke media group she doubts the usefulness of the day‑one rule and asked the Union to reopen talks about dropping it.
- Bas said the sick‑note duty is tied to a doctor appointment guarantee and stroke‑prevention measures and that she will not propose implementation steps until the health ministry delivers a primary‑care concept.
- Planned carve‑outs, including an exception for tariff‑bound employers, and Bas’s warning about more doctor visits and longer sick leaves highlight risks that the rule could be weakened or produce unwanted side effects.
- Key details remain unresolved and could delay or change the measure before year‑end; the next steps are a primary‑care plan from the health minister and renewed coalition negotiations on scope and exceptions.