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: In Germany, the workforce absenteeism rate has recently dropped slightly. However, according to data from the Techniker Krankenkasse, the total number of employee sick days remains high. Between January and November 2025, German workers reported an average of approximately 18.6 sick days. In all of 2021, German employees were absent from work for only around 13 days due to illness. The question remains, how many of these are genuinely sick, and how many are "blueshifting" – pretending to be sick instead?
A survey conducted by the opinion research institute Yougov last year suggests that more than one in four people have missed work due to false claims. A recent study by the Pronova BKK health insurance company found that 60% of employees have claimed to be sick when they were actually capable of working. Seven percent do this "frequently," while around half of the respondents admit to doing so "sometimes" or "rarely."
If a worker repeatedly calls in sick while they are actually fit for work, their employer cannot simply accept it. Two employment lawyers specializing in labor law explain the legal options available for 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.
