Overview
- The governing coalition has proposed that employees present a medical certificate from the first day of illness and that telephone‑based sick notes be abolished, but the measures are not law and still require a bill and parliamentary approval.
- The package also includes plans to raise criminal penalties for issuing false sick notes under existing law, a change the coalition says will deter fraud.
- Many large employers have responded cautiously or neutrally, saying they have not seen recent rises in absenteeism and that collective agreements already govern many firms’ rules on sick notes.
- Doctor groups and health insurers warn the change would overload practices and call it likely to be symbolic, noting that remote sick notes currently make up only a small share of all certifications.
- Under current law employers can already demand a certificate from day one if it is written into contracts or collective agreements, so key questions for lawmakers are how the new rule will interact with tariffs and how implementation and exemptions will work.