New regulation - Employment lawyer clarifies: Can my boss question my sick note by phone?
From now on, it is once again possible to take sick leave by telephone. This was decided by the Federal Joint Committee for the Healthcare System on Thursday. This brings back a regulation that existed temporarily during the corona period. However, sick leave by telephone is now only possible for up to five days.
Patients can only take sick leave by telephone if they are already known to their GP practice - and if the practice does not offer video consultations. In addition, sick notes can only be issued by telephone for mild symptoms; in the case of severe symptoms, patients must continue to see their doctor in person.
The GP association welcomes the new regulation as a relief for full practices. Employers, on the other hand, are not at all enthusiastic. Barbara Geck, a specialist lawyer for employment law at the law firm Bird & Bird in Frankfurt, explains what the new regulation means in everyday working life.
Ms Geck, the Federal Joint Committee emphasizes that sick leave by telephone is "not second-class sick leave". Employers seem to see it differently. The Confederation of German Employers' Associations believes that sick leave is "qualitatively devalued" and "disturbs industrial peace". Is the resentment justified?
I can understand the employers' reservations. Sick leave has a very high evidential value in labor law. If, as an employer, I don't know whether my employee has been to the doctor at all, I may start to wonder more quickly whether someone is off sick. In any case, the threshold for the employee is lower and the bad feeling with some employers is reinforced.
Is a sick note by telephone any different from a "normal" one in terms of employment law?
No, it is formally the same. As the Federal Committee has said: Telephone sick leave is not second-class sick leave. Sick is sick.
Can the boss still question a sick note by telephone?
Presumably he will not find out at all whether the sick note was issued by telephone. The sick note - whether by telephone or not - is sent electronically to the health insurance fund. And it only informs the employer from when to when the employee is on sick leave. The nature of the illness is also not communicated.
If there is any doubt, could the employer demand that I go to the doctor in person?
Not that either. As an employee, I can use the sick note by telephone within the framework of the regulations. Only for follow-up certificates do the rules require a visit to the doctor in person.
So in an extreme case, I could take five days off sick by phone, then work for a day and then take another sick note without ever seeing a doctor?
Well, if it's the same illness, a follow-up certificate would be due. But of course: If I first have corona and then something completely different, I can get a new initial certificate.
Can the doctor refuse to issue a sick note by telephone?
The doctor has to be convinced that someone is really ill. If he has the feeling that he can't assess this properly over the phone, he must, in my opinion, call the patient in. If the symptoms are severe, he has to say anyway: Come in so that we can have a proper look.
Just because I take the sick note from home doesn't mean I can't go out and go shopping or do other things - does it?
A sick note doesn't necessarily tie a patient to bed. That still applies, especially as sick leave by telephone is intended for minor cases. I'm allowed to do anything during the sick note that doesn't harm my recovery.
From what day do I have to submit a sick note by telephone?
The following still applies: Normally, a sick note must be submitted by the fourth calendar day. However, there may be different company regulations. And the employer can also instruct employees to obtain a sick note from the first day of work. I could well imagine that this will increase because employers will say: If you don't even have to leave the house to get the certificate, then please present it to me.
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Employers may have reservations about the new regulation allowing sick leave by telephone, as they believe it devalues the quality of sick leave and disrupts industrial peace, according to the Confederation of German Employers' Associations. Despite the new regulation, employer's still cannot question a sick note issued by telephone, as the health insurance fund only informs them of the sick leave period and not the nature of the illness.
Source: www.stern.de
