Tagesspiegel learned about Merz's dissatisfaction with frequent German sick days

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz criticized the high level of sick leave among working German citizens, who in 2025 spent an average of 14.5 days on sick leave. The Tagesspiegel newspaper writes about this on January 17.

"This is almost three weeks during which people in Germany do not work due to illness. Is this really the right thing to do? Is it really necessary," Merz said.

The chancellor also criticized the possibility of receiving sick leave by phone, which has remained since the COVID-19 pandemic, and which his CDU party wants to abolish.

"In the end, we all need to achieve higher economic indicators than what we have now," Merz added.

According to him, it is necessary to find the right incentives for citizens to want to do their jobs.

Melancholy and boredom: Americans' assessment of their mental health continues to fall

Less than 30% of respondents rate it as "excellent"

On December 14, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) newspaper reported that a court in China had recognized the lawful dismissal of an engineer who regularly left his workplace for long trips to the toilet, citing health problems. It was about an employee surnamed Li from Jiangsu Province. Between April and May 2024, the man went to the toilet 14 times for more than an hour, with the longest break being about four hours. The employer regarded this as an unauthorized absence from the workplace and terminated the employment contract.

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