You are ill! - What now?
On this page you will find information and advice on the subject of illness in the employment relationship.
If you have any questions, please get in touch with the relevant contact person in the HR department:
Nicole Link - B1.225, 60 - 2783
Sabrina Gelhoet - B1.225, 60 - 4297
Rights and obligations in the event of illness
Notification of sickness and health
If you have to be absent from work due to illness, please inform
1. the personnel administration via an application in the ATOSS time management system or by email to krankmeldungen-wp@zv.upb.de (academic staff) or krankmeldungen-np@zv.upb.de (non-academic staff) and
2. the office responsible in your field.
This applies to both academic and non-academic staff.
This notification should be submitted by 10.00 a.m. on the first day of illness at the latest. In principle, the expected duration of your absence from work should also be stated here.
The obligation to notify also applies if you are unable to work abroad or on holiday. In order to be able to credit any leave, you must always provide evidence of the illness from the very first day by means of a medical certificate.
Furthermore, if you fall ill abroad, you must also notify your health insurance fund of your incapacity for work and the expected duration if you are a member of a statutory health insurance fund.
In addition, please always inform us if a third party has caused your incapacity for work or if it is due to an accident at work or on the way to work.
Certificate of incapacity for work / how to report sick
If your incapacity for work lasts longer than three calendar days (i.e. weekends, public holidays or non-working days are counted), you must obtain a medical certificate of incapacity for work (formerly known as a "yellow certificate"). How you have to deal with the respective certificate and which procedures are necessary when reporting sick depends on whether you still receive a paper certificate or an electronic certificate of incapacity for work (eAU).
The exact details of the entire notification procedure and our contact details can be found in this diagram.
In order to be able to retrieve the eAU data from your health insurance fund, we need to know the start of your illness or the first day of a possible follow-up illness. Therefore, if your doctor has issued you with an eAU and you are not using the application function in ATOSS, please use this form.
IMPORTANT: - Health notification
If you do not participate in time recording, please report back via ATOSS when you start work/end your illness. You can also report sick via krankmeldungen-wp@zv.upb.de (scientific staff) or krankmeldungen-np@zv.upb.de (non-scientific staff) by email. Always enter the first day after the end of your illness (including days when you are not working, e.g. weekends or public holidays).
(Kopie 1)
During the period of incapacity for work, we will generally continue to pay your salary for six weeks as before.
If you always fall ill due to the same illness within twelve months (calculated from the start of the first illness), these sick days will be added together until the aforementioned six weeks have been reached. However, if you have returned to work for longer than six months between two individual illnesses, the six-week entitlement to continued remuneration begins again.
(Kopie 2)
If you are no longer entitled to remuneration, your health insurance fund will pay you sick pay during your incapacity for work.
You can receive sickness benefit for the same illness for up to 78 weeks in any three-year period. The 78 weeks begin on the day on which the doctor first wrote you off sick due to an illness. If another illness occurs during your incapacity for work, this does not extend the payment of sickness benefit. The 78 weeks is the maximum period of sickness benefit. All periods in which
- you were unable to work due to the same or an additional illness and
- in which you received sickness benefit
- or your sickness benefit was suspended, for example because you were still receiving a salary from us.
Amount of sickness benefit
Your sickness benefit amounts to 70 per cent of your last pay subject to contributions, up to a maximum of 90 per cent of your net pay.
Did you receive one-off payments in the last twelve months before the start of your incapacity for work? Then the health insurance fund will take these payments into account on a pro rata basis when calculating your sickness benefit. One-off payments include, for example, the special annual payment (Christmas bonus).
The maximum value for sickness benefit is 87.50 euros per calendar day (as of 2010). As with your salary, you may also have to pay contributions to statutory social insurance, i.e. to statutory pension, long-term care and unemployment insurance. However, there are no contributions to health insurance.
How do I get the sickness benefit?
Your health insurance fund will send you a so-called "payment slip" in good time before the first sickness benefit payment, on which the doctor certifies your continued incapacity for work. You can then obtain further payment slips from your health insurance fund if required. With some health insurance companies, the forms are also available on the Internet or the procedure is currently being converted to a paperless electronic procedure. At the same time, we receive a request from the health insurance company to certify your earnings (so-called earnings or remuneration certificate). We will forward this request to the State Office for Salaries and Benefits (LBV) in Düsseldorf as soon as the end of our salary payment period has been determined. The information on the amount of your earnings will then be added there and forwarded to your health insurance fund via electronic data exchange. Unfortunately, this process takes time and can take several weeks, depending on the processing time at the LBV.
Payment of sickness benefit
On the payment slip, your doctor confirms that you were and may still be unfit for work. You then sign the payment slip and send it to your health insurance fund and you will receive your sickness benefit. Sickness benefit is always paid retroactively. The health insurance fund pays you sickness benefit for the period from the end of your employer's salary payments until the day on which your doctor signed the payment slip. Sickness benefit is paid on a calendar day basis. If you receive sickness benefit for an entire calendar month, this is calculated as 30 days.
(Kopie 3)
In addition to sick pay, the university pays an allowance equal to the difference between the gross sick pay and your net pay as a collectively agreed additional benefit. The gross sick pay is the sick pay before the deduction of the employee's social security contributions. The net pay is the gross pay less the statutory deductions (taxes and employee contributions to social insurance, but excluding the VBL levy). If you were employed by Paderborn University before 1 July 1994, the difference between the net sick pay and the net pay will be paid out as a subsidy. The net sick pay is the sick pay already reduced by the employee contributions and thus corresponds to the amount paid to you by the health insurance fund.
Duration of the allowance payment
The duration of this benefit depends on your affiliation to Paderborn University and is paid for a period of employment
- of more than one year at the longest until the end of the 13th week and
- of more than three years at the longest until the end of the 39th week since the start of the incapacity for work.
The period of employment also includes periods with another employer to which the TV-L applies.
How do I get the sickness benefit subsidy?
In order to calculate the amount of the subsidy, the State Office for Salaries and Pensions (LBV) requires proof of the amount of benefits you receive or have received from your health insurance fund. In any case, your health insurance fund will send you a statement of the sickness benefit paid out. Please forward a copy of this to the LBV in Düsseldorf. Some health insurance companies will also take over the procedure for you if you agree to the data being passed on. Please enquire with your health insurance company.
(Kopie 4)
Have you been ill for a long time and would like to gradually return to work? This is possible through a gradual reintegration into your workplace. You will work closely with your doctor, your health insurance company, your line manager and the HR department to gradually get used to your full working capacity again. This is called gradual reintegration into the work process. Your doctor will determine how resilient you are. Based on this current ability to work under pressure, you will initially work fewer hours per week than before during the gradual return to work. Your tasks may also be fewer and lighter. In this way, you will gradually return to work up to your original level.
This reintegration procedure is voluntary for you and for us as your employer. It can only be implemented if you and your line manager agree to it.
Duration
As a rule, gradual reintegration takes between four and eight weeks. If there are medical reasons, it may take longer.
The reintegration plan
If you agree to reintegration, your treating doctor will first draw up a reintegration plan. In this plan, he or she will specify how your working hours are to be gradually increased to the original level so that you can work full-time at your previous job again. The plan contains information on
- the sequence and duration of the individual stages,
- the activities and stresses that should be avoided, and
- the necessary workplace conditions to be taken into account.
You must then sign it and submit it to the personnel department. They will check whether there are any official objections to reintegration. As a rule, this is not the case, so that the reintegration plan can also be signed there and then forwarded to your health insurance fund. You can then start your reintegration.
How your doctor supports you
Your doctor will check how your gradual reintegration is progressing. If necessary, he or she will adapt the treatment plan to your individual health situation.
Your sickness benefit during reintegration
During the gradual return to work, you are still formally unfit for work and therefore do not receive any pro rata pay. If you participate in flexitime, your attendance times do not have to be recorded in the flexitime system.
Reintegration after rehabilitation
You can also carry out gradual reintegration after outpatient or inpatient rehabilitation that your pension insurance has authorised. You can discuss the possibilities and modalities of gradual reintegration with your doctor at the rehabilitation centre while you are still there. He or she will also draw up the reintegration plan for you.
Transitional allowance from the pension insurance provider
During your reintegration after rehabilitation, the pension insurance provider will pay you the transitional allowance if the conditions for this are met. You will therefore not receive any sickness benefit from your health insurance fund during this time. You can obtain information on transitional allowance from your pension insurance fund.
(Kopie 5)
There are both outpatient and inpatient cures. Some cures are preventive, others are rehabilitative.
Preventive cures start with people who are still largely healthy. Rehabilitation helps those who are already seriously ill.
Outpatient before inpatient
In principle, outpatient cures are the first choice. Inpatient cures are only considered if outpatient treatments and cures are not sufficient or do not make sense from a socio-medical point of view. In case of doubt, your health insurance company will decide which form is appropriate on the basis of a medical report. If possible, it will also take your wishes into account.
Outpatient cures
The outpatient cure is a preventative measure. You stay at a state-recognised spa resort. There you will receive spa treatments in a local health or spa centre. With an outpatient cure, you can prevent yourself from falling ill or your illness from getting worse. Outpatient cures take place in state-recognised health resorts. They are therefore also known colloquially as "spa cures" and usually last two to three weeks. During the outpatient cure, you are generally considered fit for work and are not on sick leave from your doctor. You must therefore use your holiday leave to take this type of cure.
Inpatient cures
During an inpatient preventive or rehabilitation cure, you travel to a recognised cure or rehabilitation clinic for treatment. You will stay there and receive all the therapies and treatments that are necessary for your specific illness or health disorder. Inpatient cures usually last three weeks. If the cure is intended to maintain your ability to work, the respective pension insurance provider, i.e. the German Federal Pension Insurance (Deutsche Rentenversicherung Bund), is responsible for the programme. You can also obtain the relevant applications from your health insurance fund.
What are mother or father-child cures?
There are special mother or father-child cures for mothers and fathers who are under considerable strain due to their role as parents and whose health is also impaired. These are inpatient cures that take place in an authorised spa clinic. They are used for preventative care or rehabilitation and usually last three weeks.
Outpatient rehabilitation
This is rehabilitation near your place of residence in an approved rehabilitation institution (4-6 hours per day) without you having to stay overnight in this institution. Such outpatient rehabilitation can be useful after serious operations or in the case of chronic illnesses if inpatient rehabilitation is not indicated. It usually lasts up to three weeks. If the cure is intended to maintain your ability to work, the respective pension insurance provider, i.e. usually the German Federal Pension Insurance, is responsible for the programme.
How to apply for a cure
The following applies to all cures: The first step is to see your doctor. Discuss with your doctor which therapies and remedies are medically necessary for you and whether you need an outpatient or inpatient cure or rehabilitation. Together with your doctor, you then submit the application for the cure.
Treatment authorisation
If it is a rehabilitation measure that serves to maintain your ability to work, the German Pension Insurance Fund is usually responsible for the treatment. It will decide whether to approve or reject your application. In the event of approval, the rehabilitation centre, type, duration, scope, start and implementation of the rehabilitation services will be specified. The notification also contains the name and address of the rehabilitation centre. In the case of inpatient cures, you will also always receive a copy of the notification intended "for the employer". Please submit this copy to the Human Resources Department (Ms Rebbe, Ms Gelhoet) as soon as possible.
You will be notified directly by the spa clinic when your treatment begins. The personnel department also needs a copy of this. Should your stay at the spa be extended beyond the initially approved period, please notify the Human Resources Department as soon as possible and send us a corresponding certificate.
Continuedpayment of remuneration during the cure
Measures of medical prevention or rehabilitation are considered as involuntary incapacity to work according to the Continued Remuneration Act. The regulations on continued remuneration therefore correspond to those that apply to "normal" illness.
The employer is generally obliged to continue to pay remuneration for a period of up to 6 weeks. Here too, however, any periods of previous illness within the last six months due to the same cause will count towards the entitlement to continued remuneration.
If there are no previous illnesses and your cure lasts less than six weeks, you do not need to make any further arrangements in this respect.
However, if the continued payment of wages is cancelled in full or in part because the six-week period has been exceeded, you are generally entitled to a so-called transitional allowance from the health cure provider for the period of rehabilitation.
To ensure that your transitional allowance can be calculated and paid out on time in such a case, we need the "certificate of earnings" form from you, which will be sent to you together with the other cure documents. However, we can only process the certificate shortly before the start of your cure, as we have to record any previous periods of illness.
We will then also send this form to the State Office for Salaries and Benefits in Düsseldorf for completion, where the data on your earnings will be added and the form will be forwarded to the rehabilitation service provider
.
The statutory personal contribution
A flat-rate personal contribution or co-payment is usually incurred in connection with the treatment. You can apply for exemption from the co-payment in full or in part if this would place an unreasonable burden on you. You can obtain the application form for this from the provider of your treatment programme.
The cure is over
At the end of the cure, you will receive a discharge certificate from your cure centre stating that you are either fit for work or unfit for work. Please also submit this certificate to the personnel department and report back to them when you start work.