Germany’s plan to axe sick notes given over phone meets outcry from unions and medics

Opponents say proposal, designed to tackle employee skiving, would fill up doctors’ waiting rooms unnecessarilyA German proposal to eliminate the possibility to get short-term sick leave from a doctor over the telephone as a means of cracking down on skiving has met with an outcry from labour groups and the medical profession.Germans enjoy some of the most generous employee illness policies in Europe, a fact which the conservative chancellor, Friedrich Merz, says is undermining efforts to kickstart the EU’s biggest economy whose growth has largely stalled since 2022. Continue reading...