Allianz boss wants to cut salary for the first day of illness

Allianz boss Oliver Bäte recommends eliminating continued payment of wages on the first day of illness. “I suggest reintroducing the waiting day. This would mean that the employees themselves would bear the costs for the first day of illness,” the CEO told the “Handelsblatt”. This would reduce the burden on employers. In the Federal Republic – unlike in some other countries – continued payment of wages has been in effect for decades from the first day of illness. The maternity leave was abolished in the 1970s.

Employees in Germany are sick for an average of 20 days a year, while the EU average is eight days sick, Bäte told the newspaper. “Germany is now the world champion when it comes to sick notifications. This increases the costs in the system.”

Employers in Germany paid 77 billion euros in salaries for sick employees every year. A further 19 billion euros would come from the health insurance companies. This corresponds to around six percent of total social spending; The average across the EU is around 3.5 percent.

The head of the economists, Monika Schnitzer, recently spoke out in favor of reintroducing waiting days like in other countries. Bäte cited Sweden, Spain and Greece as examples.

The Allianz manager also spoke out in favor of cutting health services. “We need to talk about what we can still afford in an aging society.” Statutory health insurance companies alone spent 289 billion euros last year, and contributions continued to rise year after year. “At the same time, Germany is in seventh place in terms of the number of doctor visits. That’s crazy,” Bäte told the newspaper.

According to the Federal Statistical Office, employees in Germany were on sick leave for an average of 15.1 working days. The health insurance company DAK-Gesundheit shows an even higher average value for 2023: According to this, well over half of those insured by DAK had at least one sick note from January to December 2023. According to the DAK, there were an average of 20 days of absence per person for the year as a whole.