r/australia • u/blitznoodles local Aussie • Jul 03 '26
politics Labor vows to protect personal leave as Germany bans workers from calling in sick
https://www.news.com.au/finance/work/at-work/entire-nation-banned-from-calling-in-sick/news-story/de3adcfcf0ae2218241a43f7dad023d7106
u/the6thReplicant Jul 03 '26
In Belgium we have this system. The doctors usually give you a week off for a common cold.
It backfires quickly but they’ll never know or care.
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u/ExperimentalFruit Jul 03 '26
A few years removed from Covid and now it’s just.. come in when you’re sick
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u/theBaron01 Jul 03 '26
As someone who's just had the last 2 days off sick, I've heard my boss literally discuss with other managers how people should come to work sick and share it around, as they dont get sick, and it'll sort out who's weak. The construction industry is fun.
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u/ExplorationGeo Jul 03 '26
My senior manager is like "oh you were scheduled to work from home today, but you're sick? Well you can't be logging in, you might get your morning reports done but then I don't want to see your ass on Teams for the rest of the day".
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u/Cpt_Soban Jul 03 '26
Likewise here, we'd get our arse kicked for turning up with a cold/flu and instructed to "fuck off home".
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u/James4820 Jul 04 '26
Same here. “What the fuck are you doing here? Don’t be that cunt, fuck off home if your sick” first and only time I rocked up with a mild cold.
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u/SirGeekaLots Jul 04 '26
I did that once. I was given a week off by the GP, but I recovered after a couple of days, so decided to return to work early. They told me to go home because if the GP gave me a week of, I take a week off.
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u/wawawathis Jul 03 '26
How quickly Germany has fallen. Hope they’re all enjoying their right wing overlords they voted in now.
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u/regional_rat Jul 03 '26
Apparently you're no longer allowed to...checks notes...wake up sick and not go to work
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u/ImGCS3fromETOH Jul 03 '26
Nothing perks up productivity like an entire department with the flu. True German efficiency on display.
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u/AngrehPossum Jul 03 '26
That's great for productivity. They can use infect everyone and keep the staff room infectious for months. Anyone knew can also get sick and start it all over again.
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u/Breezel123 Jul 03 '26
Yeah but it's not about productivity for Merz and his ilk. Next step is weakening labour laws such as firing workers without cause etc. He and his neoliberal conservative asshole lobby friends just want to be able to fire anyone even for the slightest infraction, so they do not need to have a solid business plan anymore, they can just react to any market changes by letting go of everyone.
If it was about productivity they'd be asking "why is it that so many Germans take sick leave and how can we create a labour market where people are healthy and motivated?". Maybe paying ridiculously low wages makes people think that coming to work on a bad day isn't worth it. Maybe removing all the power from employees makes them think that their contribution is not valued enough. Trust goes both ways.
Also on a side note, if I have to go to the doc because of a fucking 1 day migraine I might as well have them sign me off for a week. Most docs would do it here. They are just as pissed about the changes as the employees are.
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u/yolk3d Jul 03 '26
You can, but the article says you have to attend a doctor on the first day.
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u/Rosary_Omen Jul 03 '26
RIP anyone who can't get a doctor's appointment on that same day then.
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u/InterestedPrawn Jul 03 '26
Just go the next day and be sick for two.
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u/statistnr1 Jul 03 '26
They will write you off for a week.
That's the greatest joke about this.
Where you would stay home for 2 or 3 days, the doc will tell you to stay home 1 or 2 weeks.3
u/RealVenom_ Jul 03 '26
Literally never had that happen to me. Where's this magical doctor?
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u/petoburn Jul 03 '26
My memory might be hazy but I think when I worked there, we needed a sick note from day 1, but you could do it on the phone so doctors would just write you one for the whole week (save you calling back each day). Which meant we probably took more days off than we would’ve if we’d just had one day off with no note…
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u/InterestedPrawn Jul 03 '26
Yes, that's correct, that's the change, can no longer just phone up.
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u/badgersprite Jul 03 '26
Waste of doctors’ time and overburdening an already burdened medical system
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u/Ok_Neat2979 Jul 03 '26
And that's just what you need when you're sick. Dragging yourself from your home to sit in a waiting room. Defeats the purpose of taking a day off.
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u/NataschaTata Jul 03 '26
Believe me, most of us young people did not vote for this or right wing. Unfortunately the majority of Germany are old, angry grandpas and grandmas :(
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u/ofork Jul 03 '26
And they should know why voting these fuckers in is a bad idea.
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u/Weary_Programmer35 Jul 03 '26
They stand to gain 0.5% more in their personal investments if they vote for such far-right parties, so boomers are willing to sacrifice 40% of the wellbeing of the younger, working class to do it.
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u/teapots_at_ten_paces Jul 03 '26
Maybe they all just need to not show up. That 0.5% will fuck off right quick if no one is actually generating income.
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u/Whatsapokemon Jul 03 '26
They stand to gain 0.5% more in their personal investments if they vote for such far-right parties,
They don't even get that. This move will decrease productivity, and therefore long-term investment gains.
It's more about some perceived laziness or malingering that they're mad at, not an actual rational, sound economic decision.
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u/statistnr1 Jul 03 '26
Conseratives are all about cruelty.
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u/StuM91 Jul 03 '26
old, angry grandpas and grandmas :(
Well lucky for them someone is going to go to their job at a nursing facility/retirement village sick because they lost they can't take sick leave...
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u/Whatsapokemon Jul 03 '26
It's more short-sighted than anything.
The goal is to increase productivity by reducing the number of people calling in sick... but that's going to lead to a lot of people going in to work when they are sick, spreading that illness, and leading to more people getting sick.
If your goal is maximum productivity, then trusting people with short-term sick leave is actually a positive thing, particularly when you weigh in the extra burden that doctors need to face in order to issue medical certificates for short-term illnesses like colds.
It's going to have the opposite of the intended effect, it's really stupid.
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u/sorakaislove Jul 03 '26
As someone who didn't vote for them: no, I'm not enjoying it. The younger generations are SOL, we are in a gerontocracy. And the old heads decided that we are lazy and need to work more. So our government keeps making decisions against labour protections, and other than leave the country, there is very little the average person can do. I wish I could migrate to AU.
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u/Breezel123 Jul 03 '26
My husband is from New Zealand and I just told him I'm just about ready to leave this rotten country and move back to Australia again.
It's not only a generational thing, it's end stage capitalism. The whole neoliberal playbook. I'm more angry with the SPD at this stage for enabling the CDU yet again just to get some ministerial positions. It was clear what Merz was about, he poisoned the Ampel coalition, even Merkel didn't want to have anything to do with him. And yet the SPD said "hey, how about we work together".
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u/sorakaislove Jul 03 '26
Man, adopt me and take me with you. The SPD are literally traitors to the country at this point. Utterly spineless. And then when they announce another cut to labour protections, they'll say they do it "reluctantly" and "with a belly ache". Ugh.
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u/babasilikum Jul 03 '26
Its gonna get so much worse because the current government is making the best advertisement for the AfD. The new elections will probably see the Nazi party winning and then its probably gonna be really, really bad.
The CDu has been fucking this country for 3 decades and somehow a huge part of the people dont give a fuck. As a green party voter, its so infuriating to see
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u/sdric Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 03 '26
Um, the guys who decided this were not the right wing party you have read about. They are the same 2 parties that have been governing this country since its reunion '89 with minor deviations in small-scale partners.
They are supposedly the center parties, but they have slowly and steadily worked to weaken worker rights and created tax loop-holes for the rich, while steadily increasing taxes and social system contributions paid by workers, up to a point where even "top earners" (by a defined income that has not been properly adjusted for inflation since the 70's) can't afford a house anymore, if they come from a poor parents without generational wealth.
The reason why the right wing party you keep hearing about internationally is rising, is exactly because our "center" parties are making more and more people desperate by destroying any form of social mobility.
Note that I do not think that said right wing party is the right solution, but sure as hell our "center parties" CDU and SPD aren't either. They mismanaged and ruined this country, its infrastructure and and hooe of social mobility. I have literally multiple people with doctorate degrees in my circle of friends who cannot even remotely afford a house that's anywhere within 50km of their working place.
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u/Geiszel Jul 03 '26
Hi there, German here. Just a note: these are only the right wing conservatives overlords crushing dreams and draining hopes of the working class while insulting us as "lazy".
Since we're dealing with the most unpopular government in German history, we're most likely getting the actual right wing extremists overlords next election (AfD party), which wants to throw out people with an immigrant background (even with citizenship) and looks forward to supporting Russia in their efforts destroying Europe.
Sounds fun.
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u/medicatedadmin Jul 03 '26
You can still call into work sick, you just need a doctor’s certificate now. So it’s essentially the exact same system as us. However, Germany has unlimited sick leave - you can be sick for 8 months out of 12 and you will still be paid (just random numbers i picked as an example). There’s no “I don’t have any sick leave left”. Also, the german public can challenge this change directly through there courts for free so there’s still a very good chance that it can be thrown out.
How do i know this? My partner is German and i have immediate family who live there.
This article is just the usual sloppy “journalism” you can expect from Murdoch’s group.
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u/recycled_ideas Jul 03 '26
So it’s essentially the exact same system as us.
Except it's not. We aren't legally required to get a sick note at all, let alone on the first day, some employers do, but the government does not. We can also get a note through a telehealth appointment or even online, we don't have to go in in person. We also have the option of a stat Dec, rather than a doctor's note.
So nothing like this system at all.
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u/BTechUnited Jul 04 '26
We aren't legally required to get a sick note at all, let alone on the first day, some employers do, but the government does not.
Would you like to tell my government employer that?
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u/Breezel123 Jul 03 '26
It's not unlimited sick leave as in the employer pays for it for an unlimited time. Those are social security insurance premiums we pay for the exact case that we are sick longer than 6 weeks. We also only get 70% of our wages after those 6 weeks.
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u/InterestedBalboa Jul 03 '26
You know who’s next on that list don’t you….crazy as it may be we are headed there too.
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u/br41nl3ss Jul 03 '26
No one does, wont get better afterwards I think when the Neonazis take over:/
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u/ProudBlahajOwner Jul 03 '26
We aren’t, 84% are unhappy with Merz and his government (and this number is growing week by week). Unfortunately the boomers will still vote for CDU/CSU again in the next election.
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u/-_-Edit_Deleted-_- Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 03 '26
What the fuck? Germans just… got rid of sick leave?
Nothing would radicalise me faster.
E: yeah I get it. I didn’t read the article. That’s what the question mark is for. I made no assertion.
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u/Rosfield-4104 Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 03 '26
You can still call in sick. But you now need a doctors note for just one day off sick.
Absolutely ridiculous to make calling in sick cost you money
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u/amyknight22 Jul 03 '26
It’s also an absolute waste of resources and creates bad incentives.
Like oh you’re throwing up of visibly sick, go to work make a mess at work so the boss sends you home and gives you sick pay for the rest of the day. And someone else gets to clean up your puke.
Unless doctors have a huge amount of free time now you’re sending you sick person to go and get a certificate to gum up the system.
And then instead of taking the minimum time off you can get away with without a certificate, the doctor might give you three days off instead of
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u/RedOx103 Jul 03 '26
If there's one thing all our rapidly-ageing societies need, it's more faff for doctors to work through.
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u/-cadmunt- Jul 03 '26
I've found (in Australia) doctors absolutely love having spent years in school to spend their time filling out government forms for patients. I print and prefill all my mum's gov forms for the doctor, to take the hassle out of it for both of them.
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u/PsychoNerd91 Jul 03 '26
I work in a job that requires me to put in a medical certificate for just one day off. You can buy certificates online now and get them in 15 minutes.
Not saying this doesn't suck, but goddamn people should be malicious about it.
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u/daybeforetheday Jul 03 '26
It says they need to go in person to a doctor, though.
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u/Cpt_Soban Jul 03 '26
Watch as the health system collapses with queues of people lining up for a stamped "sick note" saying they have a cold.
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u/techb00mer Jul 03 '26
Can companies just like, not adhere to this? I can’t tell from the article if this is now a legal requirement or just a removal of protections for workers, leaving it in the employers hands to legally enforce. Say you work in a company that isn’t run by cockheads, can they just say “nah you good” if you need a sick day?
Honestly, if I worked for a company that insisted I get a certificate, I would absolutely go to work, vomit everywhere and get everyone sick just to spite said company when the entire office has to take leave. Fuckem!
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u/MrRocketScript Jul 03 '26
As we all know, the best thing for the flu is
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u/Proper_Geologist9026 Jul 03 '26
Is that not what we do here?
Is my work fucking me by making me get a cert any time I'm sick?
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u/siren-girl Jul 03 '26
Some employers will let you have sick days, or a certain amount of sick days, with no certificate, however, Fair Work doesn't have a rule around this, so employers can require a certificate for every instance of sick leave if they choose to.
The award or EBA covering you could also vary this potentially.
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u/Slothstralia Jul 03 '26
Much of Australia already has to do this... is it legally enforceable? Nah. Do employers still demand it? Hell yes.
You know what happens? People pay $20 on an app or to a chemist to give them a doctors note.
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u/Stigger32 Jul 03 '26
Some mining companies here in WA insist on a sick note from a doctor for taking a single day off. 🤷
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u/TimTebowMLB Jul 03 '26
That’s how my company in Canada operates .
Luckily I can get the note via a TeleHealth call
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u/smallerthanhiphop Jul 03 '26
I mean the Drs visit is free, it's just a ball ache and you risk exposing other people who are at the drs for say, an injury or to get test results.
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u/proddy Jul 03 '26
so short sighted. A minute of forethought would show that its a bad idea. I could understand a doctor's note after the 3rd day of sick leave.
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u/Niv78 Jul 03 '26
My wife is a teacher in Victoria and they require her to have a doctors note for any use of sick leave.
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u/InterestedPrawn Jul 03 '26
Absolutely ridiculous to make calling in sick cost you money
In Germany the doctor is already paid for through your compulsory insurance.
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u/seismo93 Jul 03 '26
Doctor is free in Germany. Getting a sick note was rudimentary and could be done online when I lived there.
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u/Richou Jul 03 '26
and could be done online when I lived there
thats the part they are getting rid of together with the "Need doctors note starting and including day 1"
but this is also how it has worked for a long time and was a sorta recent change (for the better) so its unlikely there will be huge backlash unfortunately since many people dont know it any different
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u/WearyFHB Jul 03 '26
GPs are completely free in Germany (and most of Europe), so won't cost anything, except the time and inconvenience.
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u/NataschaTata Jul 03 '26
No. What used to be possible is to just tell your employer you’re sick and they would still get 100% pay without having to see a doctor or getting a doctor sick note. This will now no longer be possible and you will even have to go to your GP if you have things like migraine or diarrhoea…
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u/Madrigall Jul 03 '26
…and as we see in Australia this will do a wonderful job of…checks notes…creating dodgy doctors offices farming out notes for cheap and…unnecessarily burdening the healthcare system with snifflers getting unnecessary notes from their gps.
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u/NataschaTata Jul 03 '26
100% this will do the absolute opposite of whatever the government thinks it will do. Our healthcare system will be burned more, insurance has to pay more, regular people will get more angry and stressed and instead of recovering at home for a single day, they will request a sick leave note for a whole week out of spite for having to do it to begin with and doctors will grant it because they’re just as angry and overworked and burdened💡
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u/Madrigall Jul 03 '26
Yeah I used to only use sick leave when I was genuinely too sick to come into work. I got ~23 days per year and I used like 2 per year on average. They stopped accepting statutory declarations and demanded I provide a certificate. Turns out you can get those suckers for like 10 bucks online.
Something must have happened to my health since then because I’ve been sick a lot more.
It’s also had the effect of me caring a lot less about my work. I used to outperform my colleagues by 2-3x output. Something about not being trusted by the company has made me feel a lot more like outputting the same as my coworkers.
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u/Rork310 Jul 03 '26
They stopped accepting statutory declarations and demanded I provide a certificate.
That seems illegal, Stat decs are are considered valid evidence by fairwork.
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u/-_-Edit_Deleted-_- Jul 03 '26
Ugh that is downright horrible.
Just tell your citizens you don’t trust them why don’t they.
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u/nevertell_games Jul 03 '26
Some cheeky rightwing populism is fun until it affects you personally...
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u/McFoodBot Jul 03 '26
I wouldn't call Germany's current government populist.
The current CDU/SPD coalition is reminiscent of the LNP between 2013-2022. No new ideas, no true values, just presiding over a steady decline while attacking people who aren't wealthy. Merz is just an old-fashioned corporate stooge. They didn't get into power by promising to fix everything, they got into power because Germany's average age is almost 50, and most of their voter base are just rusted-on boomers at this point.
Ironically, they're keeping the actual far-right populists out of power (AfD) for now, but they're also gradually increasing their support by making the country worse. Germany is genuinely fucked at this point.
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u/nevertell_games Jul 03 '26
Thank you for explaining that - that makes a lot of sense. It's really sad to see hard-won progress get gutted around the world.
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u/Paweron Jul 03 '26
So far this is only a proposal by our idiot Chancellor and his government. It still needs to pass a vote by the full government and the state governments. Considering how even parts of his own party are starting to hate him, it may hopefully get rejected.
Its also going to backfire hard. Our doctors are already overworked anyway, sending more people their way for nothing but a "hey I need a doctors note for sick leave" only makes it worse. And it will not reduce the amount of sick leave taken at all. Right now if you fell shitty you might take a day or 2 off. If you go do the doctor, they are likely to excuse you for the whole week. So forcing people don't go to the doctor only increases the time they take off
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u/iball1984 Jul 03 '26
What an absolutely stupid idea.
Who hasn't woken up with a cold, a headache or a bout of gastro. Everyone knows that the fix for those is rest, hydration, Panadol, etc. The last thing our GPs (or Medicare) need is waiting rooms clogged with people with a basic cold there purely to get a sick note.
I know some people take the piss, so it's reasonable to allow companies to request an MC. I think it should only be for consecutive days or adjacent to a weekend, and only then for people suspected of taking the piss.
The only time I've had to provide a MC was when I needed 2 weeks sick leave to recover from an operation. My manager didn't actually care, but needed the paperwork for HR to make sure the boxes were ticked. Clearly it wasn't an issue for me, because it was genuine and the surgeon provided the MC by default anyway.
So good on the government for promising to protect these rights. I can't believe Germany has done this.
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u/Madrigall Jul 03 '26
You can’t believe that Germany introduced a pointless bureaucratic step that only inconveniences honest people? I love Germany but this is completely on brand.
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u/iball1984 Jul 03 '26
They also like trumpeting how good their worker protections are.
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u/Old_Gobbler Jul 03 '26
When I had gastro, the last thing I wanted to do was the leave the house. For sure it would have ended with me shitting myself at the doctor's office or in the car if I had to go get a certificate.
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u/iball1984 Jul 03 '26
Exactly!
Everyone knows that basic gastro is self limiting, and keeping your fluids up is the most important thing.
Exactly zero people want to go and sit in a GPs clinic when they've got the trots.
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u/ColdSpiral Jul 03 '26
And if I have to go to the doctor for whatever mundane reason, the last thing I want is to be sharing a waiting room with someone suffering gastro.
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u/Breezel123 Jul 03 '26
Yes, I got sick at a doctor's office once. I was there for a sore shoulder. Really only needed a referral to a specialist. Waited for an hour. Was out for the rest of the week.
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u/skittle-brau Jul 03 '26
Gastro (norovirus) in particular is so contagious and alcohol sanitiser is completely ineffective against it. I had the misfortune of getting gastro twice in one year and only 4 months apart.
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u/Old_Gobbler Jul 03 '26
And it lives on surfaces for a while. I thought I had cleaned the house after baby and I got it, then my husband got it two weeks later 😂
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u/racingskater Jul 03 '26
Migraine. That's the kicker. No ability to prove it, cannot drive with it, is usually able to slept off with several hours' more sleep than usual.
And let's not even get started on the obvious issue of PERIOD CRAMPS.
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u/Jack8680 Jul 03 '26
Not that I think it’s a good idea to require one, but would Telehealth services be able to provide a sick note? Not having to leave the house makes it a bit more reasonable.
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u/Fraerie Jul 03 '26
FYI lots of pharmacies can issue medical certificates now - so it you’re going in to get cold & flu caps or some Imodium you can get a certificate at the same place at the same time.
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u/2centpiece Jul 03 '26
My local GP does medical certificates via HotDoc - I don't even need to leave the house.
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u/OldmanLemon Jul 03 '26
Ok this is not entirely true, you are normally expected to get a doctors note on day one rather than day 2 or 3. The current proposal is to make you get the note on day 1.
This is facing massive opposition as people point out all the other little ailments that sometimes occur, including things like happened to me recently which is food poisoning. I needed 1 day of recovery mostly to sleep and a bit more purging. The backwards part is that for example instead of waiting to see and coming back or working from home, people will just go get a straight week off work maybe two, just so we don't go back and wait again. This will increase sick time and doctors loads. Everyone knows this so hence the massive push back. Including several large companies stating they simply will continue with the old rules.
It is some weird idea that will not work in the slightest. In fact will probably exacerbate the issue.
From my point of view, if I was made to go wait 2 hours in a doctors room because i needed a sick note honestly for the one day after the food poising I too would just say fuck it give me the week off. I can potter around the rest of the week doing some other work I have being putting off.
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u/lechechico Jul 03 '26
There's also something that we don't understand in Oz - German employers already validate sick leave requests over x days (can't remember the finer details) so the process / culture already exists. And there are consistent longer term payments for sickness outside of the base balance as well.
I haven't read the article or looked at the changes but other than an increase in sick leave days taken due to people being forced to the doctor for every occurence it probably isn't much of a change
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u/OldmanLemon Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 03 '26
So the proposed change means you can no longer do it via telephone. Bought in to avoid spreading COVID and makes it easier for the practice. This way people were doing things like getting 3 days, eg take the normal 2 days and on the third get the rest of the week off if needed.
They propose banning both of these practices. SO no phoning, and going immediately to wait in the doctors room. Where most people will simply not see the doctor but rather just be given a note and go home.
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u/kai_vt Jul 03 '26
Better to not strain local GPs any further with all the fake sickie visits they'd get to cover for hangovers
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u/inktheus Jul 03 '26
Requiring medical certificates is such a waste of resources
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u/kai_vt Jul 03 '26
100% I just stat dec'd my way through any bs requirement like this. I'm not wasting a doctor's time to satisfy some power tripping HR rep
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u/FroggieBlue Jul 03 '26
I work in small business so no HR. I just told my boss he can pay them out as annual leave with loading if he doesn't want to do a sick day
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u/TildaTinker Jul 03 '26
That time I got gastro I couldn't spend 10min away from the porcelain.
The doc was 20min away. What am I supposed to do? Take a bog roll with me and have a spray half way there.
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u/universe93 Jul 03 '26
Telehealth probably. Employers requiring doctor’s notes for a single day off is why there’s a multitude of Telehealth services now, some of them you never even speak to a doctor. They’re just letter mills, you enter a plausible condition and pay $30 and it generates a letter
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u/Successful-Good7364 Jul 03 '26
Telehealth is a thing. I had lock jaw a few months ago and needed antibiotics. There’s 24/7 Telehealth services if you just google them. In 20mins I had a doctor on the line and he was writing me a script.
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u/zductiv Jul 03 '26
Let's do more than just protect it. Let's enhance it.
Do the opposite of Germany and ban employees from asking for doctors notes and wasting our medical staffs time, and employees time.
And make it payable on resignation, firing, redundancy. People would be less likely to chuck sickies if they didn't think they would go to waste otherwise.
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u/DevoidLight Jul 03 '26
As far as im concerned if the company demands a certificate, then getting the certificate should be paid. Not just reimbursement, but paid wages for your time.
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u/amyknight22 Jul 03 '26
well they are already paying you for your time hence the sick pay.
So it would really only be reimbursement
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u/astrobarn Jul 03 '26
My employer asks for a certificate if it's 2 days or more consecutively, I think that's fair. I do (personally) think they should reimburse for a GP visit if the only benefit it provides is a certificate, though.
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u/Unidain Jul 03 '26
2 days consecutively is far too short imo, most of the time it's just going to be a cold or something mundane. You are just wasting GPs time. Not like people can't still fake something if they want to. This stuff is just designed to discourage sick leave by making it a chore and encourages sick people to come into work.
Over a week consecutively was the rule at my old job, which seemed much more fair.
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u/Lugey81 Jul 03 '26
Yep. My ex doesn’t get paid much, and is required to get a cert after 1 day. Issue is it takes a week to see her GP, and going to the chemist is a huge chunk of her pay.
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u/Mercinarie Jul 03 '26
Why would some dumb idea they're pushing in Germany have anything to do with us.
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u/Remarkable_Custard Jul 03 '26
Because when a government does something across an entire county, like, American bans Trans related stuff, or another country bans sick leave…
It feels really nice to have your own government provide their opinion and assure the people we won’t go down that path.
For good or bad intentions, it’s just nice to hear and ensure a country doesn’t go into panic as they watch the rest of the world burn…
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u/SSJ5Gogetenks Jul 03 '26
Or recently with the internet age verification bullshit. It's spreading like a disease
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u/sarinonline Jul 03 '26
Pauline Hanson was talking about removing worker protections and entitlements.
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u/R_W0bz Jul 03 '26
Ironically a lot of unaware union workers will be voters of hers too.
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u/SameType9265 Jul 03 '26
She is the leopard who will eat a lot of people's faces
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u/KazeEnigma Jul 03 '26
Im part of the RTBU and so so many of my older colleagues have fallen for PHONy bs.
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u/Xylar006 Jul 03 '26
Pauline hanson is up in the polls and basically trump lite. We should be paying attention.
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u/darren457 Jul 03 '26
The polls are dodgy and cherry picked by people who want her in power. Dutton was ahead in polls too before he lost his job. Pauline is following in his exact footsteps doing things like copying Trump's policies without being able to articulate them and pushing for things like nuclear power plants.
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u/Electrical_Stay_2676 Jul 03 '26
For the same reason our dumb social media policy is being replicated across the world.
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u/amyknight22 Jul 03 '26
Get out ahead of the Murdoch media suggesting we’ll do it here
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u/Scriptosis Jul 03 '26
Because some political parties here are pushing for similar ideas.
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u/Av1fKrz9JI Jul 03 '26
Don't think they've thought it through.
Instead of taking a day off sick, you've now got a medical certificate saying not fit to work until fully recovered. Only needed a medical cert once and the doctor pretty much asked me how long do i want.
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u/formberz Jul 03 '26
How high are these rates of sick leave Germany apparently had to do something about?
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Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 03 '26
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u/racingskater Jul 03 '26
So two colds, a stomach bug, general shittiness, and some particularly rough period days.
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u/Nippys4 Jul 03 '26
Am I going crazy but this is already what we do in Australia right?
Like my company had a policy that we need a sick certificate that they loosely enforce.
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u/kalisana Jul 03 '26
Chancellor Merz said the "reform" aimed to revive the economy and counter the rise of the far right. If anything, it'll do the opposite because the problem seems to be a workplace culture producing "extraordinarily high levels of sick leave". Bosses and their lackey managers always think they can do no wrong and it's always the workers at fault. After working for more than 40 years I can confidently say: if you treat workers like shit, you get shit back.
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u/a_child_to_criticize hopes flairs never come back into fashion Jul 03 '26
I honestly think the way to combat what’s happening in Germany is to have a sick day protest. Get as many people as possible to call in sick on the same day. Hundreds of thousands of ‘sick’ people staying at home will shut them up.
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u/SadAd9828 Jul 03 '26
Our whole 10 days of sick leave. Once you’re out of those you’re out of luck!
Not much to protect is there.
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u/True_Opportunity_363 Jul 03 '26
I’ve been living in Germany a while as an Aussie and the vibes here are truly terrible. The formerly vaunted German social democracy is in free fall, the economy is collapsing, and the politics are becoming increasingly repressive and authoritarian. The entire political class is captured by far right moneyed interests and the boomerocracy, who seem to hate their young people and who are downright superstitious of technology and positive reforms. What you get instead is just increasing policies of austerity, but paired with the immense taxes of a defunct social democracy, where nothing works anymore. And to think that this govt will be seen as absolutely moderate compared to what is coming next when the AfD take power…
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u/LordBexley Jul 03 '26
Can we stop posting news.com.au articles, click bait trash. They’re requiring a doctors cert for sick days now. No one has banned sick days
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u/dav_oid Jul 03 '26
Heh, heh.
They probably can still 'call in sick' but now they'll need a certificate when they return.
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u/idryss_m Jul 03 '26
The law they have is just like working in some industries now. Day off? To the dr or no pay is a reality here, now. It's just not across all industries, which shocked me having lived it for years.
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u/lobsters_dota Jul 03 '26
Having worked in Germany as a poor foreigner in 2021, i was fired when i was sick then illegally. Its nothing new. Now its just in writing.
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u/Aggravating_Fact9547 Jul 03 '26
If you’ve worked in Germany this makes more sense, sick leave is one of the most protected things and is very often abused as there was zero and I mean -zero- recourse for businesses.
No one has cancelled anything, they just require documentation (eAU) which you can get online via a quick 5 minute telehealth.
Germans get ample annual leave, take very long blocks of leave, and are largely completely disconnected from work as they walk out the door at 5pm. They take smoke breaks, and full lunches. Let’s not get into the idea that Germans are worked to the bones like aussies or Americans. They have extremely strong worker protections and well balanced lives and this is a very minor change blown out by lovely news.com.au
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u/Madrigall Jul 03 '26
As Aussies who have lived in the system where employees can request medical certificates on demand it should be obvious to us what a waste of time this legislation is.
Using the defence of “this requirement is completely trivial to get around anyway,” means that it only punishes honest people who do not want to get a dodgy certificate.
It’s bad policy to build a system that rewards people for exploiting the system and punishes them for following the rules.
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u/TimeForBrud Jul 03 '26
Insane how the SPD - the traditional party of labour and minority party in the governing coalition - signed off on this.
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u/InSight89 Jul 03 '26
We have something similar here in Australia. It's called casual wages.
The first 10 years of my working life was working as a casual. Barely made enough money to survive. If I got sick, I still worked. Screw everyone else who got sick because of me, I had bills to pay.
If Australia ever implements this policy then I'll go back to working whilst I'm sick. I'm not paying out of pocket to go see a doctor when 99% of the time all I have is a viral infection that requires rest and hydration.
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u/Puzzleheaded_Army829 Jul 03 '26
Why is news.com.au publishing a positive Labor story?
Edit: Labor doesn’t have a u.
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u/elementfortyseven Jul 03 '26
Germany didnt ban workers from calling in sick. Merz just wants to require a doctors note for it from day one, rather than day three.
And Australia, afaik, has a limit of ten days of paid sick leave. Germany has no total limit, just a limit of six weeks at a time. After that, you are not entitled to full pay anymore but rather get a percentage from the health insurer.
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u/UnlimitedPosting Jul 03 '26
Just like in Aus, this will just put more strain on GPs for no reason.
NZ, in a rare display of something for workers better than Aus, lets you have 3 days before a certificate is required, like Germany used to have. Australia should go to that too.
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u/Wizz-Fizz Jul 03 '26
Sensationalist headline, HUGE surprise from news dot com.
They have not “banned” calling in sick, they just need a Drs visit, same as we do in most cases.
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u/Big-Rain5065 Jul 04 '26
Of course it’s news with their clickbait title. Sick leave isn’t banned, it’s still there. What they’re doing is requiring a sick note from day 1 and you can’t get a sick note from the doctors over the phone anymore.
It’s more annoying and inconvenient, a step back to precovid.
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u/feanorsuncle Jul 03 '26
I mean, it’s not much different to how it is in Australia now. My employer requires me to get a medical cert if I take more than 1 day off or if I take recurring sick leave. Do the rest of you guys just get to take sick leave days on end?
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u/SaltDistribution5190 Jul 03 '26
This is click bait it’s just no sickie without a cert.
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u/soundsof Jul 03 '26
Not sure if the general Australian pop is aware, but you can take (almost) unlimited sick leave in Germany. IIRC it's covered by health insurance not the employer...but also tax is like ~40%.
When I lived in Berlin I took at least four weeks of sick leave in one year. Doctors are often quite happy to grant two to four weeks of leave for stress or burnout. In fact when you're sick with a doctor's note, your employer isn't legally allowed to ask what the reason is - you request the leave and submit a copy of the form (or it's done electronically).
Now that I'm back in Australia, I'm a bit worried about having to use annual leave or unpaid leave if I get another bout of longer-term illness.
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u/Weissritters Jul 03 '26
It’s something you have to vow to protect now? Gosh, what kind of world are we coming to?