Sick without certificate - soon possible with us?
Hardly a European goes to the doctor as often as we do: up to 18 times a year, the average German takes a seat in the waiting room. One of the most common reasons for a short-term visit to the family doctor is the request for sick leave. Medical researchers at the University of Magdeburg come to this conclusion after three years of research. Her proposed solution: "We should think in Germany about relaxing the rules for sick leave," said Wolfram Herrmann, head of the research team, compared to the "world".
In his opinion, one goal would be for employees to be sick for up to a week. This would have two advantages: The GPs would be relieved and the employees strengthened in their own responsibility. The fact that the absentee days are not driving up is shown by the example of Norway. There people only go to the doctor half as often as here. While short-term sick leave dominates in Germany for small, acute illnesses, the focus in Norway is on patients on long-term sick leave.
The rules for the sick-leave of employees are less strict with our neighbors in the north than with us: If we have to present a certificate of absence after three days at the latest, Norwegians are allowed to sick for three days at a time without a medical certificate. Most companies allow this even for failures of up to eight days in a row and no more than 24 days a year. Nevertheless, the number of absentee days has been declining for years, according to the Magdeburg.
The Federal Government still wants to stick to the regulation for sick leave. According to a Ministry of Labor spokesman, they are "seen as they are, as appropriate, meaningful and useful". SPD parliamentary group vice-president Karl Lauterbach points to the danger that diseases will not be treated early. CDU / CSU parliamentary vice Michael Fuchs is against it: "It must give entrepreneurs the opportunity to review sick leave, otherwise abuse is not excluded," he told the "Bild" newspaper.
Only the CDU health politician Jens Spahn was open for a reform: "In Germany, the number of average visits to the doctor is also so high because patients only for prescriptions, follow-up visits or even short-term illnesses always need to see a doctor," he said the "world." , "Any clever suggestion to reduce that should be considered open-ended."
