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.
Berlin - The number of workdays lost to sickness in Germany has dipped slightly in recent times, with the average employee taking around 18.6 sick days between January and November 2025. In contrast, employees took only about 13 days off sick in the entire year of 2021. However, it remains unclear how many of these sick days are genuine cases and how many are instances of "blue mattering" - when employees pretend to be sick when they are actually fit to work.
While nobody knows for sure, indications suggest that over one in four people have falsified their sick leave in the past year. A recent study by the Pronova BKK health insurance company found that 60% of employees have pretended to be sick when they were actually able to work, with seven percent doing so frequently. Around half of those surveyed admitted to doing this "sometimes" or "rarely."
When an employee repeatedly calls in sick despite being able to work, their employer must not accept it. Two labor law experts explain the legal options available to companies to deal with such "sick fevers."
Written by urgent.news from Handelsblatt's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
