Ricarda Lang condemns coalition's sick‑leave and parental‑benefit reforms

Green Party politician Ricarda Lang has warned the German black‑red coalition against two key social‑policy changes. She called the proposal to make the medical certificate mandatory from the first day of illness and to abolish telephone attestations a “Schnapsidee”, arguing that it would increase sick‑days, overload doctors’ practices and create more administrative friction. Lang urged the government to “not lose contact with reality” and suggested that even Friedrich Merz should speak with a primary‑care doctor to understand the impact.

Lang also sharply criticized the government's plan to cut the maximum duration of basic parental benefit by two months. She said the reduction would mean “less money, less reliability, less planability” for families, undermine gender equality and fail to address structural issues such as childcare places and working‑time flexibility. Lang called for the benefit levels to be automatically indexed to inflation, arguing that the current adjustment is insufficient to offset price rises.

Both criticisms highlight Lang’s broader concern that the coalition’s cost‑cutting measures could backfire by creating new burdens for employees, families and the health‑care system.