Sick leave by phone – you have to pay attention to that now
No time right now?
Due to the pandemic, you can still go on sick leave without going to the doctor. What you have to consider – and what new features are there in terms of child sickness benefit.
Cough, runny nose, hoarseness? In the case of simpler illnesses, for which you do not necessarily need a doctor to cure them, it has been possible since autumn to get sick leave without going to the doctor. This can be done by phone for up to seven days due to the increasing corona numbers – and according to the federal government, this should continue to be done until at least March 31. A one-time extension by telephone is also possible if the patient has to cure the cold for longer. You can stay away from work for a maximum of 14 days without visiting a doctor.
The deadlines until when you have to do this, however, does not change: the employer must have received the certificate of incapacity for work (also AU or “yellow certificate”) by the third day of illness. In terms of good cooperation, it is also important to inform the employer immediately about the notification of illness. But there are also employers who require a corresponding certificate on the first day of illness – your employment contract regulates more details.
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The aim is to reduce the possibility of infection
The aim of the measure, which already applied last spring and should only be continued on a regional level afterwards, was that corona sufferers in the waiting rooms did not also infect other patients. It is not yet clear whether this procedure will be maintained in the second quarter, i.e. from April, as Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) had already announced this week. It was initiated by the Federal Joint Committee on Health, which includes representatives from doctors, clinics and statutory health insurance companies.
The procedure proposed by the Federal Ministry of Health is somewhat unrealistic: “For sick leave without a visit to the doctor, doctors should convince themselves of the patient’s condition on the phone through a detailed questioning,” it says. This approach is likely to take place in the rarest of cases, as reported by patients in health forums.
According to the AOK Federal Association, there were more days of sick leave among employees in March and April of this year than the average for the past ten years, but on the other hand AOK also reports that between May and August the number of sick leave fell significantly. This was explained, for example, by the fact that more people work for themselves in the home office and that people are currently more cautious about infection anyway. The bottom line, as the evaluations of sick days over the year show, there is a lot to suggest that both doctors and the working population deal responsibly with the new option.
Child sickness benefit: Double the number of days for 2021
There are also special regulations for children whose parents cannot go to work due to illness or the homeschooling regulation or who have to attend school in the home office on the side. In this case, the legislature recently increased the number of children’s sick days from 10 to 20 per year. Single parents have twice the number of days available.
In contrast to the conventional notification of sickness, it is sufficient to fill out a corresponding form for the granting of child sickness benefit, although the employer must of course also be informed of this. Demanding a certificate from the school about the closure is currently handled differently by the health insurance companies. Since the said law was only passed this week, some things can still change in the implementation.
