Very important: certificate of incapacity for work
It is usually sufficient to have a doctor’s certificate issued and to submit this to the employer in order to be able to call in sick at work. There is an important supplement when you are on vacation: the certificate of incapacity for work. You should have your inability to work explicitly and expressly certified by a doctor, then you can use this certificate to count the days of illness on vacation as sick days instead of vacation days.
According to Section 9 of the Federal Holidays Act, the employer is obliged to credit employees with the days of holiday after they have presented their certificate of incapacity for work: “If an employee falls ill while on holiday, the days of incapacity for work documented by a medical certificate will not be counted towards the annual vacation.”
Certificate does not have to be submitted during vacation
It’s also good to know that you don’t have to submit your certificate of incapacity for work while you’re on vacation, you can do it afterwards. However, only the vacation days certified as being unable to work are counted – not the days on which you spent the vacation with a mild cold. It is therefore best to see a doctor as early as possible, even if you are abroad.
Illness must not be negligently self-inflicted
There are exceptions: the employer does not have to continue paying wages if you are ill abroad and have not given the boss any contact details of a third party (e.g. a doctor or spouse) through which you can be reached.
In addition, according to paragraph three of the Continued Pay Act, the employer is not obliged to continue paying wages if you are negligently responsible for your illness – i.e. if you traveled to a country with a travel warning, which resulted in an illness that caused the inability to work.
Quarantine is not a disease
Vacation days in quarantine cannot be credited – unless you are in quarantine due to acute symptoms and are therefore unable to work. The following applies here again: the inability to work must be proven.
Schunder explains to Der Spiegel that the incapacity to work must also be explicitly certified abroad, which often poses a problem due to potential communication difficulties. But: Employers are obliged to accept certificates of incapacity for work from (European) countries unless they are able to prove that the employee obtained the certificate dishonestly.
The employer’s only means is to send the employee who is allegedly unable to work to an examination at the medical service of the health insurance company so that their ability to work can be checked.
By the way: Holiday days are credited if you are on additional or special leave – but not if you are working overtime or your child is ill and you cannot use your holiday for relaxation as a result.
Editorial office finanzen.net
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