Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democrats (CDU) have backed plans to ban Germans from calling in sick to work, voting unanimously at their party conference to end the practice.
Under rules introduced during the pandemic, German employees can secure up to five days of paid leave by calling their GP surgery.
The CDU wants to make face-to-face medical appointments mandatory before workers can be signed off.
Mr Merz has argued that high rates of absenteeism is harming Germany’s economic performance.
The party claims easy access to sick notes encourages workers to make “the edge-of-the-bed-decision in favour of calling in sick”.
Germany's Institute for the Economy has estimated that employee sickness costs businesses around €82billion (£71billion) each year.
Germany operates one of the world’s most generous welfare systems, with employers covering sick pay for up to 41 days before insurance providers step in.
The CDU says such costs are no longer sustainable amid a prolonged of economic stagnation.
Mr Merz has argued that high rates of absenteeism is harming Germany’s economic performance
|GETTY
The country's growth has remained largely flat since 2017 with GDP rising by just 0.3 per cent in 2025.
German workers take an average of 15 sick days per year, compared with 4.4 days for British employees in 2024.
Federal Minister of Health Nina Warken launched a formal review of sick leave policies following Mr Merz’s comments in January questioning whether current absence levels are justified.
However, the proposal has created tension within Germany’s coalition government.
GERMANY - READ THE LATEST:
German workers take an average of 15 sick days per year (file photo)
|GETTY
The Social Democrats have voiced opposition to the CDU's move, with Christos Pantazis, the party’s health spokesman, saying phone-based sick notes ease pressure on GP surgeries and reduce infection risks.
Yasmin Fahimi, head of the German Trade Union Confederation, claimed it was “highly indecent to place employees who have called in sick under general suspicion, as if they were shirkers and slackers”.
One doctors’ association chief warned the current system “invites abuse”, while another dismissed concerns over absenteeism as an “employers’ fairy tale”.
Business leaders have also voiced alarm, with the chief executive of Allianz warning that Germany risks once again becoming the “sick man of Europe”.
Nina Warken launched a formal review of sick leave policies following Mr Merz’s comments in January
|GETTY
Mercedes-Benz chairman Ola Kallenius said: “When absenteeism in Germany is sometimes twice as high as in other European countries, this has consequences for business.”
Some companies have allegedly hired private investigators to monitor instances of suspected abuse.
Detective Paul Katz told Berlin broadcaster Rbb: “We are increasingly being contacted by employers who suspect that an employee is repeatedly or for extended periods calling in sick and is simultaneously working for the competition or pursuing private projects.”
Rising mental health-related absences, an ageing workforce, post-pandemic behavioural shifts and labour shortages have all been cited as factors behind the country's increase in sick leave.
More From GB News