The staggeringly high number of sick days are way above the European Union average of just eight days per year.
Germany has been declared the 'world champions of sick leave' by the country's biggest insurer as it revealed that poorly Germans take an average of 20 days off each year.
Including €19 billion from health insurers this comes to six per cent of the country's national social spending.With Germany's economy floundering and its worker now putting in significantly fewer working hours than their EU and British counterparts, businesses leaders have put forward their own solutions to tackle the high amount of sick days and jumpstart the economy.
Oliver Bäte, the chief executive of Allianz SE, has proposed reintroducing a system abolished in 1970 where workers lost their pay on the first day sickness unless they have a doctor's note.Read More How Germany is unable to meet the tough EU spending rules that Berlin itself pushed for Speaking to German media he pointed out that Germany would save €40 billion if it could cut the amount of workers taking sick days.
Hans-Jürgen Urban, a board member of the engineering union IG Metall, said: 'The German economy won't recover with sick employees, but on the contrary with better working conditions.' Dennis Radtke, a member of the European parliament for the centre-right CDU, called Mr Bäte's suggestion 'class war from above'.
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