BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - Health Minister Karl Lauterbach does not support the idea of an unpaid day of sick leave. The SPD politician told news radio MDR aktuell: "It is an idea that is at the expense of employees."
Those who could not afford the loss of wages would then drag themselves to work. They not only put their own health at risk, but also that of their colleagues. These are not trivial issues: "If they go to work with Covid and infect a colleague, who then possibly contracts long Covid, then no one is helped."
From Lauterbach's point of view, the debate is going in the wrong direction. He said that playing hooky hardly plays a role in practice and does not explain why Germany has the highest sick leave rate compared to other countries.
This is not caused by employees who are absent for a few days, but by those who are ill for a long time, for example with mental health problems or cardiovascular diseases, said Lauterbach.
The reason for this is that Germany neglected preventive medicine for ten to fifteen years. That is why we also have the lowest life expectancy in Western Europe and high nursing care costs. "We therefore need prevention laws here at last, such as the Healthy Heart Law," which, however, could no longer be implemented due to the FDP's withdrawal from the coalition.
Allianz CEO Oliver Bäte had proposed reintroducing the waiting day. This would mean that employees would bear the costs for the first day of illness themselves. Bäte has thus initiated a debate on sick leave in Germany. Statistically, this is high by international standards. In the Federal Republic of Germany, unlike in some other countries, sick pay has been paid from the first day of illness for decades.
Economists and associations are warning of the economic consequences of the high level of sick leave in Germany. They say that this leads to lower economic growth and higher social security spending. However, economic experts are also skeptical about the proposal to abolish sick pay for the first day of illness. They also point out possible risks and undesirable side effects./sl/DP/zb