High levels of shortages are damaging the economy, Chancellor Merz aims to stop employees from being declared sick without visiting the doctor

His party, Christian Democracy Union (CDU), unanimously voted at the congress to end this practice, with the argument that the high level of shortages is damaging the economy.

Since the beginning of the David 19 pandemic, employees in Germany have been able to obtain up to five days of total payment with only one phone call at a medical clinic. If the CDU proposal is approved, employees will have to physically appear to the doctor before they are declared unable to work, Panorama reports, broadcast. Periscope.

According to data, the Germans receive an average of 15 days of medical leave per year. The CDU argues that the ease of obtaining a medical confirmation has contributed to increased decisions to obtain permission. By comparison, in Great Britain the average number of days off work in 2024 was 4.4 days.

Germany has one of the most generous social protection systems in the world, allowing up to 41 days of permission paid by employers before payments are passed to insurers. The economics institute (IW) has estimated that shortages due to disease cost German employers about 82 billion euros annually.

The proposal is expected to spark widespread debate, amid concerns about the impact on workers' rights and the need to support the economy. /Periscope