Scheduling off-hours doctor visits is a regular challenge for full-time employees. But do you have to work hard for it? The most important rules at a glance.
Almost reproachfully, the dentist's booklet hangs on the big pin board with the to-dos for the next few days. The check-up is urgently needed, but the appointment calendar simply leaves no room for gaps. Unless you use the break between the two telephone meetings.
But are employees even allowed to go to the doctor's appointment during working hours? Do they have to inform their employer? And do they still get money? Legal experts explain which rules must be observed.
Do I have to inform my employer about doctor visits?
Yes. And as quickly as possible. "The employer must have the opportunity to plan and adapt to it. As soon as I know that I'm going to the doctor or to rehabilitation, I have to inform the employer," says Nathalie Oberthür, a specialist lawyer for labor law in Cologne.
The obligation to report always applies immediately if you do not appear at work unscheduled, says Tjark Menssen from the legal protection department of the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB). "You can't wait until you see a doctor and they issue a certificate of incapacity for work." Incidentally, this also applies to the unemployed compared to the job center.
Can I go to the doctor during working hours?
Anyone who is ill and therefore unable to work can go to the doctor - at any time. Although the visit is not working time within the meaning of the Working Hours Act, "the law stipulates that the payment obligation continues to exist for visits to the doctor that do not last long," says Menssen.
The situation is different with preventive appointments. If nothing is regulated in the employment contract, the following applies: "If I'm not ill - in the sense of unable to work - I have to make the appointments outside of working hours. Unless the doctor doesn't offer such appointments," says Nathalie Oberthür. What works and what doesn't is a case-by-case decision. The working hours play just as much a role as the flexibility of the medical practice.
If there is no way to make the appointment outside of working hours, "the employer must accept medical, temporal or scheduling necessities," says Menssen. This is the case, for example, if an examination has to be carried out at a certain time of day or the doctor's practice does not offer consultation hours outside of working hours.
When do I need a sick note?
Here it is worth taking a look at the employment contract. The law requires the submission of a certificate of incapacity for work after three days. "According to the employment contract or by special order from the employer, a certificate can also be required on the first day of incapacity to work," says Tjark Menssen.
By the way: Since July 2022, doctors have been submitting the certificate of incapacity for work electronically to the health insurance company or employer in the case of statutory health insurance. There is no longer an additional obligation for the employee to present the certificate.
When do I have to take vacation if I want to see the doctor?
"There is no compulsion to take vacation," says Menssen. This would not be legally possible in the event of incapacity to work. Anyone who falls ill while on holiday even retains their holiday entitlement. "In this case, however, you have to submit a certificate for every day," says Menssen.
What if the child has to go to the doctor?
Here, too, a distinction is made: Is the child ill and needs to be cared for or is it a preventive medical check-up that can be planned? In the second case, "I have to try to get an appointment outside of working hours," says Oberthür.
Things are different if the child has to be cared for due to illness and the illness is short. "Then I'm entitled to stay at home paid to look after the child. That would also include appropriate visits to the doctor," says Oberthür.
In addition, employees with statutory health insurance are generally entitled to unpaid leave during which they receive child sickness benefit. Until April 2023, each parent can take 30 days off per child per year, and a maximum of 65 days per year if there are several children. Single parents are entitled to child sickness benefit for 60 days per child and year, with several children a maximum of 130 days.
What should employees pay attention to?
Not all employment contracts are the same. In some cases, special regulations are formulated or excluded with regard to doctor visits, sick leave and remuneration. It is worth taking a look at the contract here. As a rule, it is on the safe side if you inform the employer immediately in the event of illness. "Even if you are still unable to work, you have to tell your employer that you are still ill," says Menssen.
