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When do you need to hand in a sick note in Europe and which sick pay systems are the most generous?

As Germany moves to clamp down on what the government sees as too many people taking sick leave, how do sick leave pay and medical certificate rules compare across Europe?

READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2026/07/07/when-do-you-need-to-hand-in-a-sick-note-in-europe-and-which-sick-pay-systems-are-the-most-

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Transcript
00:00Germany turns the screw on sick leave. Let's see how rules compare across Europe.
00:09Chancellor Mertz has said Schluss. As part of a new plan aimed at reviving the economy,
00:14Germans will no longer be allowed to call in sick without sending a medical certificate
00:19from day one of their illness. On the upside, employers pay a worker's full salary for up
00:26to six weeks. Other European countries handle things differently. In the UK, it's almost the
00:31exact opposite. Employees there only need to provide a sick note if they're off for more than
00:37seven days in a row. But all that glitters is not gold, as the UK's minimum statutory pay is only
00:45£123 a week, although some employers may top it up. In France, the deadline to provide a sick note
00:51is 48 hours. Statutory sick leave pay covers 50% of a worker's salary, capped at a specific limit.
00:59Spain has one of the most generous deals, at least in the short term. No pay for the first three
01:05days,
01:05then 60% for a month, which goes up to 75% after the 20th day off. And in Poland,
01:13sick leave is 80%
01:14from day one or 100% if the illness or injury was work-related. Warsaw, however, is cracking down
01:22on those abusing the system by introducing a new mandatory medical check after the first 14 days of leave.
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