Incapacity for work
Incapacity for work exists where an ill person cannot perform the work they last performed, or can do so only at the risk of making things worse. What matters is the specific work, not the illness as such.
As of:September 2026
Two separate duties
The duty to notify requires the incapacity and its expected duration to be reported without delay, that is without culpable hesitation and as a rule before work starts. The duty to provide proof requires a medical certificate where the incapacity lasts longer than three calendar days, to be submitted by the following working day at the latest.
The two duties are independent of each other. Anyone submitting the certificate on time but not having phoned in has still breached the duty to notify.
The employer can require the certificate earlier
Under section 5(1) sentence 3 EFZG the employer is entitled to require the certificate to be submitted earlier, including from the first day. No reason has to be given, and no suspicion is required.
A uniform rule in a works agreement makes sense. Where a works council exists, a general instruction is subject to codetermination; an instruction in an individual case is not.
MetronHR works these figures out itself: time accounts, premiums, overtime and the limits of the German Working Hours Act, with every booking.
Illness during leave
Where employees become unfit for work during leave, the days evidenced by a medical certificate are not counted against the annual leave (section 9 BUrlG). They get those days back.
A medical certificate is required, and for every day that is not to be counted. The three-day rule in section 5 EFZG does not apply here: anyone wanting a single day of leave back needs a certificate for it.
Common mistake
The certificate gets described as required "from the fourth day", although the deadline runs differently: it applies where the incapacity lasts longer than three calendar days, and submission is due on the following working day. For an illness starting on a Thursday that is not the Monday.
Further reading
- Section 5(1) EFZG
- „The employee is obliged to notify the employer of the incapacity for work and its expected duration without delay. Where the incapacity lasts longer than three calendar days, the employee has to submit a medical certificate of the existence of the incapacity and its expected duration by the following working day at the latest.“
- Section 9 BUrlG, section 3 EFZG
This is not legal advice; for a specific case at your workplace you are better off asking someone qualified to give it.
Published by: AMNAU GmbH
Editorial responsibility: Ugur Aydogan, Product development.
Last reviewed: September 2026
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The electronic certificate of incapacity for work is the procedure by which employers retrieve the sick note data from the statutory health insurer instead of receiving a paper certificate.
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Continued pay is the continued payment of remuneration during illness-related incapacity for work and on statutory public holidays, without work being done.
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Occupational integration management is a procedure by which employers, together with the person concerned, establish after prolonged incapacity how the incapacity can be overcome and the job preserved.
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