Sick leave in Germany: what to do when you are ill

2 min read · 7 steps · Updated 2 October 2026

In Germany you do not use up holiday when you are ill, and you do not lose pay for short illnesses. In return there are two duties: report sick straight away, and get a medical certificate in time.

Rules, amounts and deadlines change. Check the official source named at the end before you act, and ask the office in your city, because procedures differ from town to town.

This is general information, not legal advice. For a dispute with an employer, ask a union, a migrant advice centre or a lawyer for employment law.

Step by step

1. Report sick on the first day

   Inform your employer at the latest at the start of the first working day you miss. Phone, email or the company's app are all fine. Say how long you expect to be away. You do not have to say what the illness is.

   Done

2. See a doctor in time

   By law you need a medical certificate if the illness lasts longer than three calendar days, so it must be there on the fourth day. Your employer may ask for it from the first day. Look in your work contract.

   Done

3. The certificate goes to the employer electronically

   If you have statutory health insurance, the doctor sends the certificate (eAU) to your health insurer, and your employer fetches it from there. You get a printout for your own records. With private insurance or a doctor abroad you still hand in paper.

   Done

4. Stay ill for as long as it says

   The certificate has an end date. If you are still ill, go back to the doctor on the last day at the latest and tell your employer again. Gaps cause trouble with pay.

   Done

5. Your wage for the first six weeks

   The employer pays your normal wage for up to six weeks for the same illness. This right starts after you have been in the job for four weeks without a break.

   Done

6. Sick pay after six weeks

   From the seventh week the statutory health insurer pays sick pay (Krankengeld): 70 percent of your regular gross wage, but no more than 90 percent of your net wage. It runs for at most 78 weeks within three years for the same illness, counting the six weeks paid by the employer.

   Done

7. If your child is ill

   Parents with statutory insurance can stay at home for a sick child under 12: up to 15 working days per child and year for each parent, 30 for single parents, and at most 35 days a year with several children (70 for single parents). The health insurer pays child sick pay for these days. The child's doctor issues the certificate.

   Done

Good to know

If you fall ill on holiday and have a medical certificate, those days are not counted as holiday. Report sick from abroad in the same way.

While on sick leave you may do anything that does not delay recovery. A walk or shopping for food is fine with most illnesses. Working in a second job is not.

Being ill does not protect you from dismissal, but a dismissal because of illness has strict conditions in larger companies. See losing or quitting a job in Germany.

How the insurance behind this works: health insurance in Germany: how it works for newcomers.

In short: Report on day one, certificate by day four, eAU goes electronically, renew in time, six weeks of full wage, then 70 percent sick pay, child sick days.