From 2027, German Workers Can Clock 25% Sick Leave – but High Pensioners Lose Sickness Cash
Published on 06/18/2026 at 16:50 | Redaktion boerse-global.de
Germany’s health ministry has unveiled plans to formally allow employees to take sick leave on a part-time basis, a change that will come into force on 1 January 2027. The proposal, drafted by Health Minister Nina Warken, introduces a legal framework for what is termed “partial incapacity for work” (Teil-AU) – a concept that has existed in Swedish law since 1955.
How the Graduated Model Will Work
Until now, the German Salary Continuation Act contained no explicit rule for hourly sick leave. Courts and health insurers only recognised partial incapacity in isolated cases, such as phased return-to-work programmes or chronic illness. The new draft law creates a clear tiered system: employees can be certified as unfit to work at 25, 50, or 75 percent of their regular weekly hours. The option opens only after a person has been ill for more than four weeks. A doctor’s certificate and the employer’s consent are both required.
The procedure remains voluntary. Workers can still choose full sick leave at any time. Pay will be split between wages for the hours actually worked and a proportional amount of sick pay (Krankengeld) from the statutory health insurer for the missed hours.
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Sweden has operated a similar model since 1955, and nearly one in three sick notes there now covers partial absence. A study by the IGES Institute credited such schemes with reducing early retirements.
Cuts Alongside the Flexibility
Parallel to the partial-sick-leave reform, the government is tightening access to sick pay for people drawing high partial retirement pensions. Anyone already receiving a partial pension worth more than two-thirds of a full pension will lose their entitlement to Krankengeld. The aim is to stop double-claiming, and the government projects annual savings of around 30 million euros.
Sick pay will also be reduced after a person leaves a job, dropping to the level of unemployment benefit. Both changes form part of the GKV-Beitragssatzstabilisierungsgesetz, a law designed to shore up the finances of Germany’s statutory health insurance system.
Renewed Talk of a Waiting Day
While the partial-sick-leave plan advances, another proposal has stirred controversy. In late 2025 Economy Minister Katherina Reiche floated the idea of reintroducing a mandatory waiting day – the first day of illness would go unpaid. The trigger was research from the German Economic Institute (IW) showing that the cost of employer-funded sick pay had jumped by more than 10 billion euros in three years. No official draft law exists yet.
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Currently, German employers must pay full wages for up to six weeks of illness. Only after that do health insurers step in with Krankengeld. Since the start of 2023 the electronic sick-note system (eAU) has digitalised the process; employers can view only the period of incapacity, not the diagnosis.
Tougher Court Tests and New Working Time Rules
Recent case law has refined what a sick note must contain. The Cologne Regional Labour Court ruled that an employer may challenge a medical certificate if its issue coincides suspiciously with workplace conflicts. In such cases the employee must provide a detailed account of their symptoms and why those made it impossible to work.
The bundle of changes is accompanied by a draft reform of the Working Hours Act from the Labour Ministry. The eight-hour day will stay as the default, but collective-bargaining partners can agree to a weekly maximum of 48 hours averaged over the year. A mandatory electronic record of start, end and duration of each work shift – required by the European Court of Justice – will also be introduced. Employer associations are pushing to extend the flexibility to companies without union agreements, while economists broadly welcome the relaxation.
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