Sick pay is a benefit paid by either your employer or health insurance provider to replace wages lost due to incapacity for work
By law, German employers must pay their employees their salary in full for the first six weeks of illness. You must inform your employer immediately of your incapacity to work in order to receive sick pay. In most cases, employees can only trigger this six-week period once per year.
At the end of this six-week period, employees receive sick pay in the form of daily sickness allowance from their health insurance provider. The exact amount of these insurance benefits and how long you receive them will be determined by your policy.
Your employer and insurance provider may require a doctor’s note (Arbeitsunfähigkeitsbescheinigung) attesting to your incapacity for work. Your doctor may qualify his opinion if you are able to perform minor or light duties.
Freelancers obviously do not have an employer, which means that statutory wage-continuation provisions do not apply. If you are self-employed, you should consider a health insurance policy that provides sick pay benefits from the first day you are unfit to work.
At ottonova, we tailor your sick pay to your needs: you can determine when your sick pay coverage begins and the amount you receive, up to a maximum of €300 per day.
And the process of informing us about your sickness is also very easy: You can easily submit your sick note via the ottonova app - just take a picture and upload it.