German Chancellor Friedrich Merz confronts rising workplace absenteeism as the government faces pressure to reform generous sick leave benefits.
Rising Absenteeism Concerns
Employer associations and health funds are sounding the alarm about growing absenteeism in Germany. Chancellor Friedrich Merz has elevated the issue to a national priority, frequently calling for a return to a work ethic in his speeches. He emphasizes that Germans must work more and want more work.
Economic Productivity Paradox
According to OECD rankings, the average German works only about 1,340 hours per year, placing Germany at the bottom among developed nations. However, Germans are not inefficient; they produce high value per hour. The problem arises when this high productivity stops growing while hours worked decrease due to demographics and shorter working hours, compounded by losses from absenteeism.
Sick Leave Statistics
According to analyses by one of Germany’s largest health funds, DAK-Gesundheit, in 2025, an average of 54 out of 1,000 employees were on sick leave daily. Workers were absent an average of 19.5 calendar days, nearly the same as in 2024 when it was 19.7 days. In terms of paid sick days, Germany is clearly at the top of the rankings compared to other countries.
Generous Sick Leave System
Germany’s sick leave rules are clear and, from a Polish perspective, very favorable. For the first 6 weeks (42 days) of illness, the employer pays the employee full salary. There is no “penalty” for illness in the form of reduction to 80%. Only after 6 weeks does the health fund take over, paying sickness benefit of about 70% of gross salary (but not more than 90% of net). Additionally, there is a three-day rule: a medical certificate is typically required from the fourth day of absence, though the employer may request it from the first day.
Economic Impact
Employers are counting losses: the Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft estimated the cost of continuing salary payments in 2024 at approximately 82 billion euros, noting that it has increased by about 10 billion euros in three years.
Telephone Sick Leave Debate
The easiest scapegoat is telephone sick leave (L4). It sounds like a post-pandemic loophole for manipulation, making it perfect as a political symbol of loosening morals. However, the data cools emotions: sick leave issued after telephone consultations accounts for only about 0.8-1.2% of all cases. While rules can be improved, pretending this will solve a problem of this scale is unrealistic.
Policy Dilemma
Chancellor Merz is right that Germany cannot achieve growth if sick leave for trivial reasons becomes the new normal. However, his government also faces a dilemma: how to reduce absenteeism without pushing sick people into offices and factories. The fight against excessive sick leave is just one symptom of a broader phenomenon.
Social Contract Reform
The Merz cabinet faces an existential challenge. Reduction of social spending has become necessary. Germany can no longer finance such an extensive welfare state with negative GDP growth and huge security expenditures. What we will now observe in Berlin is the rewriting of the social contract. To heal the economy, the chancellor will have to hit several pillars at once; conduct pension reform, social benefits reform, and healthcare reform. All this with a social democratic coalition partner in government and the AfD breathing down his neck.