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submitted 3 days ago by Tychoxii@hexbear.net to c/news@hexbear.net

German workers will have to report to a doctor in person to get a sick note on the first day they are ill, under strict proposals from Friedrich Merz.

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[-] Awoo@hexbear.net 17 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Germans, on average, take about three weeks, or 15 working days, of sick leave per year.

Fucking hell that is quite high considering it's 4.4 here in the UK.

We don't force people to get sicknotes for every bit of time off though lmao. You require one after 7 days absence.

Not convinced that this high figure is caused by the lack of sicknote requirement.

[-] aanes_appreciator@hexbear.net 12 points 3 days ago

yeah the UK culture for working when sick is atrocious. People regularly clocking in despite having hyper contagious diseases, even in the food industry, or just straight up guilt and puritanism that makes you guilty to dare turn up late to the bullshit factory

[-] SootySootySoot@hexbear.net 10 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

I get nine fully-paid sick days, which is unusually high in the UK (the standard is 0). SSP in the UK is basically nothing (and until last month WAS nothing for the first week), so people typically have no choice if they want to eat food and live in their home. Is German statutory sick pay meaningfully higher?

To be honest if I was actually off work when I genuinely should be, it probably would average about 15 days a year.

[-] chgxvjh@hexbear.net 6 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

You can be sick for 6 weeks in Germany with full pay. But there are countries with significantly less generous sick leave systems that have more sick days.

this post was submitted on 02 Jul 2026
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