Krankmeldung: Wie sich Arbeitgeber gegen Blaumacher wehren können
Aus dem Handelsblatt-Archiv: Ein Mitarbeiter meldet sich immer an Brückentagen und montags krank? Diese rechtlichen Möglichkeiten haben Firmen bei Verdacht auf Blaumachen.
The recent decline in Germany's sick leave has plateaued, according to recent data from the Techniker Krankenkasse. Despite a slight decrease, the average number of sick days taken by German employees between January and November 2025 was approximately 18.6 days. In comparison, the entire year of 2021 saw only around 13 days of absence due to illness.
However, it is unclear how many of these absences are genuine medical reasons versus employees faking it, often referred to as "blau-machen" in German. A survey by the opinion research institute Yougov from last year revealed that over a quarter of respondents had falsified their sick leave at least once. A recent study by the health insurance company Pronova BKK found that 60% of employees have pretended to be sick when they were actually fit to work.
Seven percent of the workforce admitted to doing this "frequently". Around half of the respondents reported doing this "sometimes" or "rarely". When an employee repeatedly claims to be sick when they are able to work, the employer cannot turn a blind eye. Two labor law experts explain the legal options companies have against these "sick practitioners".
Written by urgent.news from Handelsblatt's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
