Employees abusing the rules entitling them to continue to receive pay while on sick leave cause businesses to incur enormous losses and may also negatively affect the workplace climate.  Management will typically note this form of abuse only in case of unusually high absenteeism rates.

Should this apply to your organisation then do not hesitate to contact Fritsch Private Investigators.

Fritsch Private Investigators will assist you and your company in cases of abuse relating to sick leave and continuation of pay during sick leave.

Standard employment contracts often provide that an employee who is on sick leave may only use this time off for the purpose of restoring their health and may not behave in a way that impairs their recovery. This includes, for instance, that an employee who is on sick leave is not allowed to engage in late-night activities (such as visiting bars or discotheques where alcohol is served) and is certainly not allowed to work for another company. The same applies to redecorating their home, playing football or tennis or abusing sick leave to gain a few extra holidays.

Sometimes employees internally “resign” out of a sense of frustration following a dispute with their employer or supervisor or after having been passed up for a promotion. In this case, they may report in sick in order to provoke being fired in hopes of negotiating redundancy pay.

The following may be indicators of sick leave and continued pay abuse:

• Reporting in sick after a leave request has been denied
• Reporting in sick on so-called bridge days
• Frequent short-term sick absences
• Medical certificates from varying physicians
• Reporting in sick primarily on Mondays or Fridays
• Regular sickness absences
• Reporting in sick on special occasions (seasonal celebrations, festivals etc.)

Should your employee in fact be found to have abused continued pay entitlements you can claim compensation for damages from them in many cases. (In Germany, according to Section 91, Paragraph 1, Civil Procedures Act). We recommend you consult a lawyer specialising in labour law.

Fritsch Private Investigators will serve you both across Germany and internationally. In case of suspected abuse, we encourage you to contact us for a discussion – without any obligations attached – of the case and possible investigative methods we may use in order to assist you.

Employees who abuse sick pay privileges are not committing a minor transgression but in fact are defrauding their employer!