Germany: Important change for sick leave from October 2021!

Starting in October, sick leave for people with statutory health insurance will be digitized. This means that doctors’ surgeries will digitally transfer certificates of incapacity for work (Arbeitsunfähigkeitsbescheinigung) to the health insurance funds. However, the “yellow certificate” on paper is not yet completely out of use, because employers will only be able to download the electronic certificate of incapacity for work from the health insurance funds of their employees from July 1, 2022.

There is no longer any obligation to report to the health insurance fund

According to the Spitzenverband Bund der Krankenkassen, around 77 million cases of incapacity for work are diagnosed each year. Statutorily insured persons are obliged to report sick leave in good time in order not to lose any possible right to sickness benefit later on.

This risk is now to be eliminated with the introduction of direct communication between medical practices and health insurance funds. From October 1, 2021, you will no longer have to send the old, familiar yellow certificate to the health insurance fund yourself, but will be able to rely on digital transmission via the so-called telematics infrastructure (TI). However, you should ask your doctor in advance whether he already has the necessary technical requirements.

The obligation to inform the employer remains in effect for the time being

Anyone who is incapacitated for more than three days must always provide their employer with a medical certificate, unless the employer requests a certificate in advance. For the time being, employees must continue to provide the certificate in the form of a paper printout, as employers will not be covered by the electronic certificate retrieval procedure until July 2022.

Instead of four paper copies – for health insurers, employers, doctors and insured persons – from July 2022 only one copy will be provided for the insured person’s personal file. This is intended to prevent the loss of entitlement to benefits due to late submission of a medical certificate, reduce bureaucracy and the cost of paper mailing, and ensure that sickness absence time is fully documented in health insurance funds.

Source: www.verbraucherzentrale.de

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