Sick leave wage bill doubles in 15 years
Germany’s sick-leave bill has exploded, with companies paying a record €85.6 billion in wages and related costs to employees on sick and maternity leave last year—more than twice the amount recorded in 2010.
A study by the Cologne-based German Economic Institute (IW) found that German companies paid around €85.6 billion in wages to employees on sick and maternity leave in 2025. That is a dramatic increase from €36.9 billion in 2010.
Of the total, approximately €72.5 billion consisted of gross wages, while another €13.1 billion went toward social security contributions. The IW said rising wages, inflation and higher employment levels have all contributed to the sharp increase in costs.
The institute also pointed to a significant rise in officially recorded sick leave since Germany introduced electronic medical certificates in 2022. The new system may have made it easier for absences to be recorded, contributing to the increase seen in official statistics.
Separate research by the Berlin-based IGES Institute found that German employees now take an average of 19.5 working days of sick leave each year. That figure has risen considerably from around 13 days in 2018, highlighting the growing scale of the problem for employers.
The German government is now looking for ways to reverse the trend. From January, Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s government plans to prevent patients from obtaining sick notes from doctors by telephone. Under Germany’s current system, employers generally continue paying an employee’s salary for up to six weeks of illness before statutory health insurance takes over with sickness benefits.