Sick leave

Disability ( in Austria sick leave) is a labor law and social law term. In the event of incapacity workers usually have up to a six-week entitlement to continued payment of wages by the employer. Disability is also a prerequisite for socio-legal claims against the insurance company, the accident insurance institution or the employment agency. The concept of disability is to be distinguished from the pension law concept of disability (formerly disability ) and the civil service concept of invalidity.

Definition

Disability exists when a worker due to illness his last applied before the incapacity activity can no longer or only at the risk of exacerbation of the disease to run. In making this assessment must focus on the conditions that have shaped concrete the existing work so that it goes unnoticed, whether the employee is still able to perform some other activity (eg referral professions). Disability is also available, if, it is foreseeable due to a specific disease state that still does not imply inability to work on their own, that cause immediately from the exercise of the activity for the health or recovery adverse consequences grown, the inability to work.

Unemployed are unable to work when they are no longer due to a disease capable of light work to do in a temporal extent for which they have made ​​available on the Agency. It does not matter, pursued the activity for which the insured against unemployment.

Working age beneficiaries, the benefits to secure their livelihood under SGB II ( basic security for job seekers - " Hartz IV" ) has requested or refer, are unable to work, if they are not due to illness to be able to work at least three hours a day or on a integration measure participate.

Display and detection

The disability and its likely duration must inform the employer immediately, without undue delay that is ( § 121 BGB), are displayed. Takes the work incapacity of more than three calendar days, it must be on the employer beyond by a medical certificate ( sick note ) can be detected - in publicly insured also against the insurance company. The certificate must be no later than the working day following the third day of incapacity the employer. If this day is a day off, is the filing of the next business day permitted ( § 193 BGB). The employer may require that the proof is provided earlier.

Elimination of the obligation to work

While the incapacity for work, the employer of the affected workers can not demand performance, because the performance of work is impossible for the workers.

Incapacity benefits in Germany

After Entgeltfortzahlungsgesetz have workers at no fault of disability is entitled to continued payment of their salary, up to a period of six weeks. This does not even during the first four weeks of employment. Continued payment of wages is also entitled to workers engaged in marginal employment. No entitlement to continued payment of wages is inability to work due to medical unindexed tattooing, piercing or cosmetic surgery, because the employer only has to carry the normal risk of illness of the employee.

If no continued payment of remuneration paid or if it is expired, have statutory health insured employees are entitled to sick pay from the insurance company for a maximum period of 78 weeks ( for the same disease within an overall framework of 3 years). As long as the insured workers continued remuneration received from the employer, the sickness benefit claim rests with the result that he can claim only up to 72 weeks sick pay after about six weeks of continued pay.

Is the inability to work due to an employment injury or from occupational disease shall take the place of sickness benefits, the injury benefit by the accident insurance institutions, for example, the respective professional association. Entitled to injury benefit may also have slightly employees who receive no sick pay, for they are as though workers accident insurance, but not health insurance.

Due to a collective agreement (for example, in the public service in accordance with § 22 TVöD ) Employees may be entitled to payment of a grant to sickness or injury benefit by the employer. This is often graded according to length of service.

Alternatively, a private daily sickness agree (for example, private health insurance, who are not entitled to Statutory Sick Pay ). Such services are, however, paid only for total disability.

Inability to work while on vacation

The display and disclosure obligations will apply even if the inability to work during the holiday occurs. However, especially in vacations abroad usually due to postal transit times the AU certificate will not be present within 4 days. Individual arrangements are therefore useful, eg, sent by fax from the hotel or handover immediately after the holiday return. Foreign disability certificates must meet certain requirements. Through the sick days, the holiday will not be automatically renewed, but the employee must, if he is fit to resume work, start at the scheduled time work again. The days ( proven ) inability to work may not be counted towards the holidays.

Inclusion after long-term illness

In case of prolonged illness, a phase of work testing may be necessary. About the way of " gradual reintegration " of workers individually with the consent of the employer, that is gentle depending on disease and previous disability duration, but continuously brought up to the stresses of his workplace. Meanwhile, the person concerned shall continue to apply as unable to work ( and is usually continued sickness benefit). Often this process go forward talks with the company doctor, it is also examined in the context of whether and to what extent such as technical aids in the workplace may be required. The employer must carry out a so-called Corporate integration management within one year in accordance with § 84 Section 2 Sentence 1 Ninth Book of the Social Code (SGB IX) with continuous or repeated inability to work for more than 6 weeks duration.

Causes of disability

Most common cause of disability in statutory health insurance (as of 2009 ) are diseases of the respiratory system ( 24.7 % of cases), followed by diseases of the muscles and the skeleton ( 16.4 %), digestive organs (11.1%), inability to work due to injuries (8.7%) and mental illness ( 4.4%). According to another source, most days off work to go to the back Muskel-/Skelett-Erkrankungen ( 22.9 percent of the disability days), followed by acute injuries ( 11.8 percent), respiratory diseases ( 11.4 percent ) and mental illness (10, 1 percent). Whether, for how long and for what disease an employee is unable to work, is influenced by the factors of age, gender and occupation. So the downtime for workers from the service sector as well as banks and insurance companies were significantly lower than those in jobs, occupations with high physical workloads exercised, for example, in the supply and disposal and industrial foundry, but also for bus and tram drivers or elderly carers.

Since 1991, the number of sick days increased by mental disorders by about 33 percent. This trend to more mental illness is disability statistics since their introduction in 1976 to observe (as of 2006).

Frequency and duration / Statistics

Frequency and duration of incapacity for work are the subject of statistical observations and investigations.

In 2009, the employees of the public administration, which are insured by a company health insurance, sick leave on average 16.6 calendar days. The workers in the electrical industry were missing at around twelve days. Within the media industry at around eight days

Absenteeism among employees in the public sector in 2010 reached a new high. Employees and civil servants in the federal civil service fall on average 16.3 days in the year - almost a third more likely than statutory health insurance in the private sector.

In the federal government - it has 274 000 employees - missing posted an average of 17 800 staff due to illness. Similarly, the tendency in the countries. In NRW cities 20 percent of police officers are six weeks or longer sick leave a year.

German Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière commented: " The sick worries me. We have been here for years an increase. " Peter Heesen, president of the DBB ( German Civil Service Federation ) drew attention to the high working pressure in the state administration. This will continue to increase through job cuts.

The then Federal Interior Minister Manfred Kanther had let 1996 capture absenteeism in the public sector for the first time systematically and discussed publicly in 1997.

According to a study by the Scientific Institute of the Local Health Insurance Fund ( WIdO ) there were in 2012 in Germany in the largest cities of different lengths sickness absence. The lower statistics relate to around 11 million AOK - insured workers who were employed in 2012 more than 1.3 million holdings. The national average amounted to 18.1 days off work.