You wake up genuinely ill in Germany and immediately face two anxieties on top of the fever: do I lose pay, and do I have to drag myself to a doctor to prove I am sick? The German system has reassuring answers to both, but they come with rules about timing and notification that, if you get them wrong, turn a sick day into a problem with your employer. Knowing them before you are ill means you can just rest.
The Krankschreibung, the German sick note, sits at the intersection of health and employment, and it is one of the more protective systems an employee can have. Full pay for weeks, no obligation to reveal what is wrong, and a now-digital process. The catch is purely procedural: notify fast, and know when the note is due.
When you need a sick note
Two timelines matter, and people confuse them.
Notifying your employer: immediately, on the first day you are sick. You must tell your employer you cannot work and the expected duration, by phone, email, or however your workplace expects, before your shift or as early as possible. This is separate from the doctor's note and is non-negotiable.
The doctor's note (Krankschreibung): by law, usually required from the 4th day of illness. But, crucially, many employment contracts require a note from the 1st day, which they are allowed to do. So check your contract: if it says day one, you need to see a doctor straight away, not wait three days.
The safe rule: notify the employer immediately regardless, and get the doctor's note by whichever deadline your contract sets.
The eAU: the note is now electronic
The sick note has gone digital. The eAU (elektronische Arbeitsunfähigkeitsbescheinigung) means the doctor sends the certificate electronically to your health insurer, and your employer retrieves it digitally from there.
What this changes for you: you generally no longer hand a paper note to your employer. The doctor (usually your Hausarzt) issues the eAU, it flows to your insurer, and your employer pulls it. You may still get a printout for your own records, and you should confirm the doctor has filed it.
What this does not change: you still have to personally tell your employer you are sick. The eAU handles the certificate, not the notification. Do not assume the digital note means your employer automatically knows on day one, you tell them, the system files the proof.
How long you keep getting paid
This is the genuinely protective part of the system.
First 6 weeks (per illness): your employer continues your full pay (Entgeltfortzahlung im Krankheitsfall). You are sick, you stay home, and your salary continues as normal for up to six weeks for the same illness.
After 6 weeks: your statutory health insurer pays Krankengeld (sick pay), which is a percentage of your normal net income (a substantial share, not full pay), for an extended period (up to many months for the same illness). So long-term illness shifts from employer pay to insurer sick pay, but you are not simply cut off.
The practical upshot: a normal cold or flu, fully paid, no income worry. A serious long illness, full pay for six weeks, then meaningful insurer sick pay after. This security is part of what the German social insurance system buys you.
You do not reveal the diagnosis
A point that relieves many newcomers: you do not have to tell your employer what is wrong with you.
You must inform them that you are unable to work and roughly how long, but the diagnosis stays private. The sick note confirms incapacity to work (Arbeitsunfähigkeit) without disclosing the medical reason to your employer. The diagnosis goes to your insurer on the eAU, not to your boss.
So "I am ill and signed off until Friday" is a complete and proper notification. You never owe your manager the details of your health.
Getting the note, and the Probezeit angle
How to get it: see a doctor, in person for anything beyond minor illness, and they decide and issue the Krankschreibung. For minor short illness, some telemedicine services can issue a short Krankschreibung after a remote consultation, which is handy when you are too unwell to travel or cannot get an in-person slot. The doctor, not you, judges and issues it.
During probation: sickness rules feel higher-stakes in the Probezeit, the first months of a job, because notice periods are short and the relationship is new. Your right to a sick note and to Entgeltfortzahlung still applies (full pay from after a short initial qualifying period of employment), but being scrupulous about notifying promptly and following the day-1-or-day-4 rule matters more when you are still proving yourself. Follow the process exactly and you are protected.
The whole system rewards doing two simple things right: tell them fast, and get the note on time.
What to do this week
- Check your employment contract now for when a sick note is required, day 1 or day 4, so you are not caught out when ill.
- Know that you must notify your employer on the first sick day regardless, separately from the doctor's eAU.
- Save a telemedicine option that can issue a short Krankschreibung for minor illness when you cannot reach your GP.
