Germany is studying cutting workers’ salaries from the first day of sick leave to curb work absenteeism, a measure promoted by the Government of Friedrich Merz in the midst of the debate on productivity, the four-day work week and the balance between personal life and work. The proposal, advanced by the newspaper Bild, comes after the country recorded an average of 14.8 days of sickness absence per year, one of the highest figures in Europe and a cost of millions for companies.
The proposal, advanced by the newspaper Bildpart of a concern that has been gaining weight in the German political and business debate for months. The country records an average of 14.8 days of sick leave per worker per year, one of the highest figures in Europe. This level of absenteeism, according to the data cited in the information, would be generating a cost of around 82,000 million euros annually for companies.
In this context, the German conservative bloc wants to toughen the current system of sick leave due to temporary disability. Germany currently allows workers to continue receiving full salary for a maximum of six weeks for the same illness, as long as there is medical justification. Furthermore, if the new sick leave is due to a different illness, that period starts again from the beginning.
Germany proposes salary discounts and bonuses for those who barely miss work
The intention would be for the worker to see his salary reduced from the first day on which he reports sick leave. At the same time, those who accumulate five days or less of absence per year could receive a financial bonus.
With this measure, the German Government wants to discourage short-term sick leave and prevent minor ailments from leading to days not worked. According to this vision, a part of the current absenteeism would not respond to serious illnesses, but to excessive use of the system at a time when the German economy is also suffering a slowdown in productivity.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz had already made his position clear in recent public interventions. In one of them he even stressed that those 14.8 days are equivalent to almost three weeks a year without working due to illness. He also sent a direct message against the idea that Germany can maintain its level of prosperity by betting on fewer working hours, more balance between personal life and employment or the four-day work week.
Now, the increase in casualties is not explained only by productivity. The problem also coincides with greater work exhaustion, stress and emotional exhaustion after the pandemic. In many sectors, the pressure to return to the office, workforce cuts, uncertainty and changes in work organization have worsened the mental health of thousands of employees.
For this reason, the debate in Germany is not only about medical leave, since there are also other factors such as burnout (burnout worker syndrome), work anxiety or even toxic environments within companies, which in some cases push the worker to use sick leave as a means of escape or recovery. Although Germany has not yet approved this measure, the simple fact of raising it already marks a change of course in European labor discourse.