Contents
The decisive point: the incapacity does not end
During the phased return the person remains unfit for work. They owe no work but take part in a measure serving the restoration of their capacity to work.
From that it follows that no remuneration is paid. Their livelihood comes from the health insurer's sick pay or the pension insurer's transitional allowance. Anyone paying pro rata salary instead risks the measure being treated as an employment relationship, with the benefit falling away.
Who has to agree
The treating doctor draws up the phased plan, the health insurer or the pension insurer approves it, the person concerned has to agree, and the employer has to consent.
There is no general duty on the employer to consent. For severely disabled people and those treated as equivalent, however, section 164(4) SGB IX can give rise to a claim to employment suited to the disability, which makes refusal harder.
The relationship to integration management
The phased return is one possible measure within occupational integration management, but not the same thing. Integration management is the procedure for establishing what to do; the phased return is one of the answers it can produce.
Example: a phased plan over six weeks
- Weeks 1 and 2: three hours a day.
- Weeks 3 and 4: five hours a day.
- Weeks 5 and 6: six hours a day.
- After that, full working time. Until then: sick pay, no remuneration.
Common mistake
The hours of the phased return get recorded and paid as working time. That legally ends the incapacity, the sick pay falls away, and the person is worse off than before.
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: 2 September 2026