{"id":59,"date":"2011-02-13T11:21:02","date_gmt":"2011-02-13T11:21:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mth-partner.de\/rechtsanwaltsblog\/?p=59"},"modified":"2025-12-09T18:45:17","modified_gmt":"2025-12-09T18:45:17","slug":"arbeitsrecht-auslandische-arbeitsunfahigkeitsbescheinigungen-mussen-zur-wirksamkeit-deutschen-anforderungen-genugen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mth-partner.de\/en\/labour-law-foreign-certificates-of-incapacity-for-work-must-meet-german-requirements-to-be-valid\/","title":{"rendered":"Foreign certificates of incapacity for work must fulfil German requirements to be valid"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rhineland-Palatinate Regional Labour Court, 24.06.2010, Ref.: 11 Sa 178\/10.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Employees are obliged to inform the employer of their incapacity to work and its probable duration without undue delay (\"immediately\") at the onset of an illness that makes it impossible to work. This obligation also applies to employees who are on holiday. If the incapacity for work lasts longer than three working days, the employee must submit a medical certificate of incapacity for work on the following day in accordance with Section 5 (1) sentence 1 of the Continued Remuneration Act.<\/p>\n

This certificate must be in writing, issued by a registered doctor and signed by the doctor. It must state the employee's incapacity for work and its expected duration. If the employee is insured with the statutory health insurance fund, the certificate must also contain a declaration from the doctor treating the employee that the fund will immediately receive notification of the incapacity for work with details of the findings and the expected duration of the incapacity for work. If the employee fails to report sick or submit the certificate of incapacity for work, the employer is entitled to demand a Warning letter<\/a> which, in the event of a repeat offence ordinary cancellation<\/a>, possibly even justifying extraordinary termination.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Facts of the Case:<\/strong>:<\/span><\/h2>\n

<\/span>Employee had been with the employer for over 25 years<\/span><\/h3>\n

In the above-mentioned case, an employee, who later became the plaintiff, had been employed by the defendant for over 25 years. During the holiday period, the employee applied to the employer for four weeks' holiday, but was refused. He was finally granted a three-week holiday during the same period. The employee then travelled to his home country of Turkey.<\/p>\n

At the end of his holiday in Turkey, the claimant sent a certificate from a Turkish doctor - employer doubts it<\/h3>\n

Towards the end of his holiday, the employee did not turn up for work but presented a certificate from a Turkish hospital with a German translation. The certificate recommended 30 days of bed rest after the employee was discharged from hospital. As the employer doubted the veracity of the certificate of incapacity for work, it refused to continue to pay the salary. The employee then filed a lawsuit. This was dismissed by the Ludwigshafen Labour Court.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Judgement of the Rhineland-Palatinate Regional Labour Court<\/strong>:<\/span><\/h2>\n

<\/span>Both the Labour Court and the Regional Labour Court dismissed the plaintiff's claim for payment<\/span><\/h3>\n

The appeal was also dismissed by the Rhineland-Palatinate Higher Labour Court. The plaintiff had not proven that he was unfit for work following the hospital treatment. It is true that the plaintiff had submitted a non-preprinted certificate issued by the hospital for \"incapacity for work\". Despite this certificate, which did not necessarily have to be written in German, there were doubts in the present case as to the employee's incapacity for work.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Employee's certificate did not meet German requirements<\/span><\/h3>\n

In the case in dispute, the employer, who was obliged to provide evidence, had presented facts that gave rise to serious doubts as to whether the employee was unfit for work. As a result, the certificate of incapacity for work issued was only of limited probative value. In this respect, it was up to the employee to provide further proof of the correctness of the incapacity for work. However, the plaintiff was unable to provide this evidence.<\/p>\n

Source: Rhineland-Palatinate State Labor Court<\/p>\n

Important Note: The content of this article has been prepared to the best of our knowledge and belief. However, due to the complexity and constant evolution of the subject matter, we must exclude liability and warranty.<\/b> Important Notice: The content of this article has been created to the best of our knowledge and understanding. However, due to the complexity and constant changes in the subject matter, we must exclude any liability and warranty.<\/p>\n

If you need legal advice, feel free to call us at 0221 \u2013 80187670 or email us at info@mth-partner.de.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Landesarbeitsgericht Rheinland-Pfalz, 24.06.2010, Az.: 11 Sa 178\/10. Arbeitnehmer sind mit Beginn einer Erkrankung, die die Arbeitsaus\u00fcbung unm\u00f6glich macht, verpflichtet, den Arbeitgeberohne schuldhaftes Z\u00f6gern (\u201cunverz\u00fcglich\u201c) \u00fcber ihre Arbeitsunf\u00e4higkeit und deren voraussichtliche Dauer zu informieren. Eine solche Verpflichtung besteht auch bei Arbeitnehmern, die sich im Urlaub befinden. Wenn die Arbeitsunf\u00e4higkeit l\u00e4nger als drei Arbeitstage dauert, hat der […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12036,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3628],"tags":[1853],"class_list":["post-59","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kuendigungen-kuendigungsschutz","tag-vorlage-attest-bei-krankheit"],"yoast_head":"\nArbeitsrecht: Ausl\u00e4ndische Arbeitsunf\u00e4higkeitsbescheinigungen m\u00fcssen zur Wirksamkeit deutschen Anforderungen gen\u00fcgen<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Arbeitnehmer sind mit Beginn einer Erkrankung verpflichtet, den Arbeitgeberohne schuldhaftes Z\u00f6gern \u00fcber ihre Arbeitsunf\u00e4higkeit zu informieren.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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