What is continued pay during illness?
Continued remuneration during illness means employees keep receiving their salary for a limited period during sickness-related incapacity, even though they do not work. The legal basis is the German Continued Remuneration Act (§3 EFZG).
Duration: the 6-week rule
For non-self-inflicted incapacity the employer continues full pay for up to six weeks (42 calendar days). Only afterwards does the statutory health fund take over with sick pay.
Conditions
- Waiting period: the employment has existed for at least four weeks.
- Not self-inflicted: the incapacity must not be the employee's own fault.
- Notification & proof (§5 EFZG): illness must be reported immediately; a medical certificate is due by the fourth day at the latest (the employer may request it earlier).
Amount and what applies after 6 weeks
During the six weeks employees receive 100% of their regular pay. Afterwards the health fund pays sick pay – around 70% of gross, capped at 90% of net.
The "same illness" rule
A different illness generally creates a fresh six-week entitlement. The same illness only if the employee was free of it for at least six months, or twelve months have passed since the first incapacity began.
Mental illness and continued-pay costs
Mental illnesses cause the longest absences of all diagnosis groups – and thus the highest continued-pay and sick-pay costs. The most effective lever is prevention: the legally required psychological risk assessment under §5 ArbSchG uncovers the stressors behind long absences before they arise. Learn more →
