Overview
- The coalition has agreed to reintroduce a mandatory medical certificate from the first day of sickness and to limit phone-based sick notes, a shift from the current rule that normally requires a note only from the fourth day.
- General practitioners and regional medical associations have publicly objected to the plan and warned it will raise patient volumes, lengthen waiting times, and force contagious people into crowded waiting rooms.
- Data from the Zentralinstitut show telephone-issued certificates make up only about 0.8–1.2 percent of all sick notes, and experts say higher recorded absence partly reflects fuller capture by the electronic AU system and changed post‑pandemic behavior.
- The government proposes wider use of video consultations as an alternative, but roughly 40 percent of practices in parts of Niedersachsen offer video visits and clinicians report low patient uptake and integration problems.
- Critics describe the proposal as a political signal of mistrust that treats all workers as potential abusers and say it will not address root causes of rising absenteeism such as workplace stress and chronic illness.