Partial Sick Leave Is Coming – What Employers Need to Know
Until now, the all-or-nothing principle has applied to employee incapacity for work: Employees are either fully fit for work or completely unable to work. Only the gradual reintegration program (known as the “Hamburger Modell”) following extended incapacity allows employees to gradually return to work while still being classified as unfit for work.
This is set to change on 1 January 2028: Employees will then be able to be partially unfit for work. The regulation is modeled on Scandinavian examples and is intended to reduce long-term illnesses and facilitate the return to work.
What’s New?
The planned Section 44c of the German Social Code Book V (SGB V) (pursuant to the Statutory Health Insurance Contribution Rate Stabilization Act) allows employees who are expected to be unfit for work for more than four weeks to continue working on a partial basis.
By Manuel Klingenberg and Sören Eike Hennies
Mass redundancy: Minor errors in the notification – when does the dismissal remain valid?
What are the consequences of incorrect information in a mass redundancy notification for the validity of the dismissals based on it?
In its judgment of 25 June 2026 (6 AZR 7/26), the Federal Labour Court (BAG) clarified that minor errors in the mass redundancy notification do not necessarily render the resulting dismissals invalid, provided the employment authorities can still fulfil their statutory duties despite the error. The decision thereby specifies the most recent case law of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) and provides important guidance for practitioners.
By Sabine Fabig
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