Sick pay
In terms of the Federal Ministry of Health:
In case of inability to work persons insured receive their salary or wages normally for up to six weeks from their employer.
Then the health insurance pays 70 percent of the regular monthly gross income up to the contribution assessment
ceiling ("Beitragsbemessungsgrenze"), but not more than 90 percent of the last net salary or wage. The sick pay
including the continued pay by the employer is limited to 78 weeks within three years.
According to the Law amending the transplantation law ("Gesetz zur Änderung des Transplantationsgesetzes")
from 1 August 2012 persons, who have made a live donation of an organ or tissue to a related person, get a
comprehensive coverage. The new regulations provide a comprehensive entitlement to sick pay to the living
donor against the statutory health insurance of the organ recipient, if he/she will be unable to work because
of a donation which took place within the frame of the transplantation law ("Transplantationsgesetz").
This entitlement is also given, when the organ recipient is privately insured.
With the GKV-Versorgungsstärkungsgesetz (GKV-VSG), which took effect with the main
parts on 23 July 2015, it was clarified, that this protection also applies to donors of
blood for the separation of blood stem cells or other blood components.
Sick pay in case of sickness of children
For each child in the Statutory Health Insurance (SHI) sick pay is provided for
up to ten working days per year,
if the child is younger than twelve years, has to be - according to a medical certificate - supervised, looked after
and nursed by the person who therefore cannot do his or her job and if no other person living in the household can care
for the child. In case of several children the entitlement is limited to a total of 25 working days.
In case of disabled children and children who are dependent on help, who are insured in
the SHI, the insured parents have
an entitlement to sick pay without an age limitation for their children. Parents of seriously ill children, who have a
limited life expectancy of weeks or only a few months, have an entitlement unlimited in time to child care
pay ("Kinderpflegekrankengeld").
With the law to improve the compatibility of family, care and job ("Gesetz zur besseren
Vereinbarkeit von Familie, Pflege und Beruf")
that came into effect on 1 January 2015, for example the
calculation of the child sick pay was designed more transparent, fairer and with less bureaucracy.
Since then, the basis for the calculation is no longer the scored salary or wage before the leave of
absence, but the failed salary or wage during the leave of absence. Now the parents receive a child sick pay,
which better reflects the replacement function and is not - as before - in many cases essentially below or above the loss of earnings.
Since 1 January 2009, the health insurances have to offer a tariff with a claim of sickness pay to full-time
self-employed persons as well as to non-permanent and short-term employees. For this elective tariff with a
claim of sickness pay an additional premium is required, which can be different between the health insurances.
Since 1 August 2009, self-employed persons and non-permanent and short-term employees can choose between
an elective tariff or a coverage of lost earnings starting from the seventh week of inability to work via
the "statutory" claim of sickness pay which is covered by the general contribution rate.
Selected information about "Sick pay":
Tables:
- Pay continuation, cases and days, with compensation of employers' expenditures (manual workers), 1993-2005
- Sick pay
Digrams:
Data Sources:
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