![\"Chancellor](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/german-chancellor-friedrich-merz-speaks-125306649.jpg\")
Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Germans are calling out sick too often. AP<\/p>\n
It would be a radical change for a nation known for pro-worker policies and where \u00a0a four-day work week<\/a> has become normal.<\/p>\n \u201cWork-life balance and a four-day week will not be enough to maintain our country\u2019s current level of prosperity in the future, which is why we need to work harder,\u201d Merz said in a speech about absentee rates earlier this year.<\/p>\n The proposal comes as a study revealed that Deutschland workers take an average of 14.8\u00a0 sick days a year \u2014 more than once a month, and four times that of the United Kingdom.<\/p>\n The bill aims to beef up economic growth<\/a> in the labor-and-employee-friendly nation, which faces lagging growth. It would also reward employees who take less than five sick days a year with bonus pay.<\/p>\n Germany\u2019s generous current policy allows workers to take up to six weeks of paid leave for an illness.\u00a0If the employee falls ill from a different sickness, the six-week paid leave starts\u00a0again.<\/p>\n The government now wants to nudge workers with minor ailments such as a cold back into the office, according to according to German tabloid Bild,<\/a> which broke the story.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s certain that Germany has the highest number of sick days in Europe. Both coalition partners would like to reduce that,\u201d a government insider told the paper.<\/p>\n Standard workweeks in Germany are five days, but dozens of companies have recently participated in trials offering 4 days-weeks at full pay.<\/p>\n![\"worker\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/headache-stress-tired-business-man-125777428.jpg\")
Workers in Germany get six weeks of paid sick leave per illness. Jadon B\/peopleimages.com \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n