Vertrauen ist gut, Kontrolle ist besser!

Why Germany's new sick note proposal signals a deeper shift in the relationship between workers, employers and the state.

As most parents of Kita kids inevitably experience at some point, I woke up one weekday morning a couple years ago with a stomach bug. Clearly unfit for work, I emailed my employer to report my illness. Because the nasty virus passed as quickly as it came, I was back at my desk the following day.

Unless you’ve been hiding out in a news cave, it’s hard to have missed one of the standout measures in the coalition’s 34-point reform package, agreed upon just shy of summer recess. The coalition wants employees to obtain an Arbeitsunfähigkeitsbescheinigung, or AU, covering the very first day of illness, and to abolish the telephone sick notes introduced during the pandemic. Currently, no certificate is required until the fourth day of illness.

That prospect has alarmed doctors, who warn that routine certification appointments will crowd out patients with more urgent medical needs. Patients with an ordinary one or two-day illness could have little recourse other than hobbling to a Hausarzt, or…