Star poll
First day of illness without continued pay? Majority is against it
Six weeks before the federal election: Most Germans reject the idea of introducing a waiting day for continued payment of wages in order to relieve the burden on companies.
May marks the tenth anniversary of Olive Bäte’s rise to CEO of the Allianz Group. Two months earlier, the top manager turns 60. But that’s not all: the top manager rang in his anniversary year with an initiative that sparked a heated debate on talk shows, newspapers and social media for days. In the current federal election campaign, however, it turns out to be a flash in the pan.
In an interview in the “Handesblatt” Bäte launched the idea of reintroducing the parental leave day, which was abolished in the 1970s. Instead of benefiting from continued payment of wages from the start of an illness, the Allianz boss believes that employees should bear the costs of the first day of illness themselves. To relieve the burden on companies. This is handled similarly in Sweden, Spain and Greece. In contrast, sickness rates in Germany are high compared to international standards.
But an overwhelming majority of Germans don’t believe in Bäte’s idea. In a current, representative Forsa survey commissioned by star 72 percent of those surveyed said they did not think it made sense. Among dependent employees, rejection is 83 percent.
Waiting day for continued payment of wages? Only FDP voters are in favor of it
Hardly any well-known politicians have so far joined Bäte’s initiative in the current campaign for the federal election on February 23rd. This could have something to do with the fact that the majority of voters from all parties reject him – except for the FDP. Their member of the Bundestag, Julius Cronenberg, a medium-sized business expert, recently even called for three days of waiting before the start of continued payment of wages in the event of illness.
In the current Forsa survey commissioned by star 58 percent of the FDP supporters surveyed described Bäte’s reform proposal as sensible. The majority of supporters of all other parties have the opposite opinion, with the degree of rejection ranging from 63 percent (Union voters) to 71 percent (AfD supporters) and 77 percent (BSW voters) to values of 85 percent (SPD supporters) and 86 Percent (Green Party voters) varies.
One thing is clear: no party apart from the Free Democrats will be able to score points in the election campaign with the issue of waiting days.
The data was compiled by the market and opinion research institute Forsa star and RTL Deutschland by telephone on January 9th and 10th, 2025. Database: 1001 respondents. Statistical margin of error: +/- 3 percentage points. The survey is therefore representative.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
