Amid the debate over rising sickness levels in Germany, the national association of general practitioners has warned the government against abolishing the option of obtaining sick notes by phone. “All previous evaluations by the health insurers confirm that telephone sick notes do not lead to higher misuse of sick leave,” Markus Beier, chair of the GP association, told the RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland (RND). “Anyone who abolishes the telephone sick note bears responsibility for countless patients dragging themselves into practices without need,” he cautioned.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) had criticized what he considers an excessively high sickness rate among workers during a campaign event in Baden-Württemberg on Saturday. On average, employees in Germany take three weeks of sick leave per year. Merz sees the option of obtaining sick leave by phone as one reason for this trend. The practice was introduced in 2021 during the Covid pandemic and later made permanent by then–Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD). On Monday, current Health Minister Nina Warken (CDU) announced a review of the telephone sick note.
Beier, however, described the system as a proven tool for reducing bureaucracy. The telephone sick note “relieves our practices and protects our patients from infections in the waiting room,” he told RND, adding: “It is not a rule-free space, as is often claimed.”
The association’s chair also accused employers of making unfounded demands to abolish the option. “One can only hope that policymakers stick to the facts instead of falling for the employers’ fairy tale,” he said. Beier stressed that strict rules apply: patients must be personally known to the practice, and sick notes issued by phone may cover a maximum of five days.
Green Party politician Janosch Dahmen also defended the system and warned against its removal. The telephone sick note “relieves practices, reduces unnecessary doctor visits and prevents full waiting rooms during infection season,” Dahmen, himself a doctor and the Greens’ health policy spokesperson, told the Rheinische Post. Anyone ending it “produces more bureaucracy and more strain, for doctors as well as for patients.”
Christos Pantazis, health policy spokesperson for the SPD parliamentary group, likewise defended telephone sick notes against criticism from the conservative bloc. “The telephone sick note is not a ‘free pass’ but a narrowly defined, medically supervised arrangement for mild illnesses,” Pantazis told newspapers of the Funke Media Group. “Anyone who is ill should be able to recover, and anyone who wants to keep the system stable must prevent illness, not place the sick under general suspicion,” he said.
From breaking news to thought-provoking opinion pieces, our newsletter keeps you informed & engaged.
