Germany Requires Doctor's Note on First Day of Illness

Germany will require employees to provide a doctor's note on the first day of illness before taking paid sick leave. The change ends the previous policy that permitted up to six weeks of paid sick leave without documentation.

Under the former rules, workers could take six weeks of paid sick leave for each separate illness in addition to six weeks of annual vacation. The new requirement applies immediately and removes the option to report illness by phone. Officials stated the measure addresses average annual sick leave of 14.8 days per worker.

They also enacted separate reforms that will raise the retirement age from 65 to 67 and give employers more flexibility to hire short-term staff.

Association of General Practitioners warned the new rule could create a "catastrophic" backlog in medical offices. Officials said the changes aim to support economic growth after recent years of weak performance.