Overview
- BDA president Rainer Dulger calls for ending telephone sick notes, framing them as prone to abuse, and points to video consultations as the alternative.
- He proposes capping employer sick pay at a total of six weeks per year instead of six weeks per illness, which can be claimed multiple times under current rules.
- Dulger urges stopping the continuation of night, Sunday and overtime allowances during sick leave, arguing such premiums reflect work not performed.
- He wants the statutory medical review service (MDK) to check work incapacity more frequently and more quickly, noting current reviews are rare.
- The push cites 2024 data including €82 billion in employer sick-pay costs calculated by IW and €134 billion in production losses with an average 20.8 sick days per employee reported by BAuA; these are proposals, not enacted policy.