# German employment law and sick leave regulations

> Live situation record from CLSTR: https://clstr.news/situations/german-employment-law-and-sick-leave-regulations
> Updated: 2026-10-27T01:39:32.000Z. Sources: 9. Developments: 3.

Legal requirements for employees in Germany regarding sick leave and vacation time involve specific notification and reporting duties. Under the electronic incapacity for work certificate (eAU) system, employers retrieve medical data electronically from health insurance providers. However, employees are still legally obligated to notify their employers of an inability to work immediately on the first day of illness and before the scheduled start of work. While employees are not required to disclose specific medical diagnoses, they must provide information regarding the expected duration of their absence.

Regarding financial support, employers are responsible for continued wage payment for up to six weeks, provided the employment relationship has existed uninterrupted for at least four weeks. If illness persists beyond this period, employees may be eligible for sick pay (Krankengeld) for up to 78 weeks within a three-year period for the same illness.

Recent judicial developments have clarified the scope of employee duties. The State Labour Court of Baden-Württemberg (LAG) ruled that employment contract clauses requiring sick employees to report ‘any urgent work’ are invalid due to excessive vagueness. The court determined that such broad clauses unfairly require employees to report tasks that an employer could have identified independently.

Additionally, the Federal Labour Court (BAG) has reaffirmed that employers must implement reliable, objective, and accessible systems to record daily working hours to ensure compliance with occupational health and safety laws. In sectors like logistics, industry associations are transitioning toward mandatory digital time tracking to replace handwritten documentation.

Regarding vacation, the Federal Vacation Act establishes the calendar year as the standard period for leave. Following a 2019 Federal Labour Court ruling, employers cannot claim statutory vacation days have expired unless they have fulfilled a duty to inform the employee of their remaining balance and provided an explicit warning regarding expiration.

## Claims

- The State Labour Court of Baden-Württemberg ruled that clauses requiring sick employees to report 'any urgent work' are invalid. (corroborated by 4 sources)
- A warning issued to an employee for failing to report urgent tasks under an invalid clause must be removed from their file. (corroborated by 4 sources)
- The Federal Labour Court (BAG) requires employers to use reliable, objective, and accessible systems for recording daily working hours. (single source)
- The purpose of mandatory time tracking is to comply with occupational health and safety requirements. (single source)

## Timeline

### 2026-10-27: German courts rule on sick leave duties and time tracking

German courts have invalidated vague contract clauses requiring sick employees to report urgent tasks and reaffirmed that employers must maintain reliable systems for recording daily working hours.

7 sources. https://clstr.news/cluster/german-courts-rule-on-sick-leave-duties-and-time-tracking

### 2026-10-21: German labor law: Rules for remaining vacation and sick leave reporting

German labor law dictates that employers must explicitly warn employees before vacation days expire, and sick leave reporting requires notifying employers of address changes within three days.

2 sources. https://clstr.news/cluster/german-labor-law-rules-for-remaining-vacation-and-sick-leave-reporting

### 2026-10-03: Germany: Employee notification duties remain despite digital eAU implementation

In Germany, the digital eAU system does not exempt employees from the duty to notify employers of sick leave. Employees must report absences promptly without disclosing specific diagnoses.

2 sources. https://clstr.news/cluster/germany-employee-notification-duties-remain-despite-digital-eau-implementation

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Cite as: German employment law and sick leave regulations. CLSTR, https://clstr.news/situations/german-employment-law-and-sick-leave-regulations