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NRW Moves to Tighten Sick-Leave Oversight After TV Cook-Show Case

The education minister plans tighter rules with faster medical reviews after a Cologne case triggered a formal probe.

Overview

  • The Cologne district authority confirmed a disciplinary procedure against a teacher alleged to have appeared on two TV cooking shows during roughly a year-long sick leave.
  • Education Minister Dorothee Feller told a Landtag committee the Allgemeine Dienstordnung will be clarified shortly to set uniform standards for handling sickness and ordering official medical assessments.
  • Feller said her ministry will work with the health ministry to accelerate amtsärztliche procedures, citing delays before teachers are examined by an official doctor.
  • An FDP-obtained Lagebild shows about 1,388 beamtete teachers sick for more than six months, including 582 over a year, with only around 55 percent referred to an Amtsarzt so far.
  • FDP politician Franziska Müller-Rech pressed for a binding statewide system and disclosure on whether reported TV prize money was registered as secondary income, while Feller declined details due to the ongoing case.