If your child is sick: parents can ask for sick leave
Parents caring for a sick child under the age of 12 can also receive a sick note over the phone. The prerequisite is that the child is familiar with the pediatrician’s practice and that he or she only has mild symptoms of the disease.
This is intended to relieve the workload of pediatricians and parents and to prevent infections in the waiting room. However, you do not have the legal right to obtain your sick note over the phone. The pediatrician will decide this.
The certificate is valid for a maximum of five days and is transmitted electronically by the doctor’s office directly to the health insurer. Parents need sick leave to receive child sickness benefit from health insurers in the event of loss of work. For 2024 and 2025, parents can receive child sickness benefit for 15 working days per child and parents and single parents for 30 working days per child.
More Information on child sickness benefit can be consulted on the website of the Federal Ministry of Health.
Children can take sick leave via video and phone
From now on, doctors can issue sick leave to children via video or telephone, as long as they are under 12 years old. However, this age limit does not apply to children with disabilities and children who require assistance.
The same applies here:
- Sickness certificate via video consultation:
The duration of medical leave for video consultations, if the child is already known in the office, is possible for up to seven days.
For unknown children, it is possible for up to three days.
Symptoms must be suitable for a video consultation.
For a certificate of follow-up via video consultation, the patient must have previously been examined in person at the office. - Sickness certificate by telephone:
It is possible for mild illnesses.
Initial certification is possible for up to five days if the child has knowledge of the practice.
If the child is still sick, it is necessary to go to the doctor’s office.
Who does the electronic certificate of incapacity for work apply to?
The eAU applies to those with legal health insurance.
For Privately insured persons and persons entitled to benefits initially nothing changes. They receive their certificates of incapacity for work still in paper format and have to send them to their employer and their own private health insurance or benefits agency.
There is also no EAU option for mini-employers in private households. The certificate of sick children of employees will continue to be issued on paper.
How does the doctor issue the electronic certificate of incapacity for work?
If you receive a sick note from your doctor, you will only receive this Paper printing for your documents.
You do not need to send the sickness certificate to your statutory health insurance company or your employer. The doctor’s office sends your name, your health insurance number, the start and end dates of your incapacity for work, identification as the initial or subsequent report to the statutory health insurance company, and provides information about whether there is any evidence of an accident at work.
Hospitals also participate in this process.
Not involved at the moment
- Private doctors in Germany
- Doctors, dentists and rehabilitation centers abroad
How can I report illness to my employer?
If you are sick, you should, as before, inform your doctor. Notify your employer immediatelythat you are absent due to illness.
Continue to observe the regulations that apply to sick leave at your company.
From the 4th day of incapacity for work, workers are generally required to present to the employer a certificate of incapacity for work (§ 5º EZFG). However, the employer may even request the certificate on the first day.
Even with the EAU, employees still have the obligation to notify their employer of their incapacity for work and, if necessary, have it diagnosed by a doctor. Please inform your employer in good time that your doctor has granted you sick leave.
If you received sick leave from a doctor, your employer will retrieve the certificate electronically from your health insurance company.
The health insurer provides the employer with the following information:
- the name of the insured
- the beginning and end of incapacity for work
- identification as an initial or subsequent report
The employer finds out nowhich doctor gave the certificate and what diagnoses were made.
Data is usually only available from the day after the sick leave is certified. You will end up secure communication servers made available to employers by the statutory health insurance. On the employer’s side, certain technical requirements are also required for an application from the health insurance company.
Is data transmission secure?
Transmission takes place via the highly secure telematics infrastructure. The data is transmitted encrypted from the moment it leaves the doctor’s office to the health insurance company.
If the health insurer receives an inquiry from an employer, it first checks whether there is a right of access to the information: Is the employee actually insured at the moment and is he/she also an employee of the company that made the inquiry? Before the data is passed on, it is compared with the data status of the health insurer.
What happens if streaming fails due to internet issues?
The data is saved by the office software and the certificate will be sent as soon as possible again.
At the technical problems With digital streaming, medical practices are changing this Replacement procedure with paper printouts no. In this case, those with compulsory health insurance send the replacement printout to their health insurer. The data can then be scanned by health insurers via a printed barcode without much effort and made available to employers.