General information on unfitness for work
This page answers all your questions about unfitness for work.
Information on the electronic doctor’s note from 1 January 2023
If you are unfit for work for more than 3 calendar days, you must be diagnosed and the diagnosis must be certified by a doctor. Previously, you were required to submit a paper doctor’s note attesting to the illness on the fourth day of incapacity at the latest to your unit/department/faculty.
Due to new statutory provisions, a new digital procedure for submitting a doctor’s note will be introduced on 1 January 2023. The electronic doctor’s note will replace the previous yellow paper form that you had to submit to your employer and health insurance provider. You will continue to receive a paper doctor’s note from your doctor, which is primarily intended for your records but must be submitted to you unit/department/faculty in the event of technical issues (e.g., transmission error). Your doctor’s office will electronically send data about your inability to work and the expected duration to your health insurance company, which can be retrieved by your HR department.
Important: The new digital procedure for submitting an electronic doctor’s note applies only to
- employees who have German statutory health insurance coverage, civil servants who are insured accordingly, and
- marginal and short-term employees.
Privately insured employees and medical welfare beneficiaries are excluded from the digital procedure and must continue to submit doctor’s notes in paper form.
In addition, this electronic doctor’s note procedure applies only to so-called contract physicians (i.e., those who are licensed to treat patients with statutory health insurance coverage), trauma physicians, and hospitals. This procedure does not apply to so-called child sick days, treatment abroad, or employment prohibitions during pregnancy. In these cases, employees are still required to submit a doctor’s note in paper form.
Read the information from the human resources department (PDF) for more information on the new digital procedure.
Please note:
For pay scale employees, payment in cases of illness and accidents is regulated under the German holiday and sick pay act (Gesetz über die Zahlung des Arbeitsentgelts an Feiertagen und im Krankheitsfall, EntgFG) . In accordance with Section 67 of the Hamburg civil service act (Hamburgisches Beamtengesetz, HmbBG PDF, in German only) civil servants must provide proof thereof.
If you are ill and unfit to work, you are obligated to notify your workplace without undue delay, i.e., on the first day of missing work, usually by phone and no later than 10 am, about the expected duration of your absence if known.
If you miss work for more than three days, you must provide a doctor’s certificate as proof of your unfitness for work. You are not obligated, however, to inform your employer about the type of illness or unfitness or provide proof thereof.
The submission deadline of three calendar days also includes national or federal holidays that fall on a weekday. The same applies if you are ill or unfit to work on the day before or after off-duty weekends or other off-duty days. In that case, you must provide a doctor’s certificate (ärztliche Bescheinigung) indicating the expected period of unfitness as proof. A certificate from a non-medical practitioner is insufficient.
If your unfitness for work exceeds the period indicated in the doctor’s note, you must provide a new doctor’s determinations and unfitness (NB: privately insured employees and medical welfare beneficiaries must continue to submit their doctor’s notes to their facility/department/unit). In that case, you must notify your employer again by phone immediately, no later than the day you are expected to return to work. You remain obligated to provide proof of unfitness for work, even after your maximum eligibility period for continued remuneration (Entgeltfortzahlung) or illness benefits (Krankengeldzuschuss) has ended.
Online doctor’s notes, which are issued only once you have completed an online questionnaire without any direct contact with the doctor, do not satisfy the obligation to provide the evidence required according to the German holiday and sick pay act (Gesetz über die Zahlung des Arbeitsentgelts an Feiertagen und im Krankheitsfall, EntgFG) and are not recognized by the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg.
Information on the coronavirus pandemic
Read through the coronavirus FAQ (Impact of the coronavirus pandemic on staff) if you have been diagnosed with COVID-19 or if you suspect that you have COVID-19.
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