The German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has officially banned the country’s workers from calling in sick thanks to a new reform.
There’s nothing worse than waking up in the morning with a pounding headache or discovering rather unceremoniously that night that you’re far from well enough to go into work. Not only do you feel horribly sick, but you then have to go through with convincing your boss that you’re actually unwell. Luckily, it’s only a phone call or a message for most.
Well, those phone calls or messages are now officially banned in Germany, meaning its workers are no longer allowed to call in sick without a medical note.
Germany bans phoning in sick from work
As announced by the country’s Chancellor, Friedrich Merz’s, a ton of new reforms were announced, including tax relief for lower-income families, changes to pensions, and a scrapping of the right for Germans to call in sick.
Instead, Merz explained that it’s now a requirement for workers to “submit a medical certificate from the very first day of illness,” instead of calling off for a few days and then having to provide a sick note.
“We know this is a tough decision. But we can no longer afford this competitive disadvantage caused by prolonged absences from work,” explained Merz during the announcement.
This was met with a huge divide from people across the world, with many showing concern regarding contagious diseases and how workers will feel forced to go in.
“What an absolutely ridiculous policy. You are basically going to be forcing people to go to work who shouldn’t be. As a society, we need people to stay at home if they are ill. It’s like we’ve learnt nothing from Covid,” wrote one X user.
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Others highlighted the uses it would have in the UK: “Should be our system too, ridiculous how easy people can just go on the sick at a whim here,” while another echoed the statement, writing: “Good!! nightmare for employers dealing with people taking advantage of this.”
