Partial Sickness Benefit: How Partial Incapacity for Work Is to Work

Partial sickness benefit (Teilkrankengeld) and partial incapacity for work are among the new elements in the package to stabilise statutory health insurance contributions. The idea is that a person with a long-term illness should not be either fully on sick leave or fully fit, but able to keep working in part. This guide separates what has been passed, what the draft said and where the position remains open.

Key Points

• Partial incapacity belongs to the GKV Contribution Rate Stabilisation Act, which the Bundestag passed on 10 July 2026.
• The health committee postponed the start to 1 July 2028 (paper 21/7023).
• The cabinet draft of 29 April 2026 provided for steps of 25, 50 and 75 percent of regular weekly working time.
• Certification and notification of partial incapacity are to take place only with your consent.
• The rule is intended for longer, not merely minor illnesses that are expected to last more than four weeks.

What Is Partial Incapacity for Work With Partial Sickness Benefit?

So far the system essentially knows two states: you are unfit for work or you are not. A middle path existed only through a phased return to work (stufenweise Wiedereingliederung), in which you come back step by step after a longer illness. The new rule aims to create a status of its own. According to the short description in the budget committee report, insured people with an illness that is not merely minor and an incapacity expected to last longer than four weeks are to be able to be partially unfit for work and receive partial sickness benefit.

The difference from a phased return lies in legal status. According to the account of the cabinet draft, partial incapacity was meant to take priority over the phased return. It is therefore not a trial run on sickness benefit but a proportionate employment arrangement with proportionate pay. Whether you receive sickness benefit as a student is not affected. See Sickness benefit for students: is there any? (in German).

When Does Partial Incapacity Apply?

The cabinet draft provided for a start in 2027, as an account by Legal Tribune Online of 19 May 2026 reports. In the parliamentary process, however, the health committee postponed the start to 1 July 2028. This is stated in the budget committee report on the bill (paper 21/7023 of 8 July 2026). A report in the Deutsches Ärzteblatt of 6 July 2026 likewise gives a start no earlier than the beginning of 2028, as well as an evaluation after one year and a final one after five years.

Whether the law has since passed the Bundesrat and been promulgated in the Federal Law Gazette, you can check in the Bundestag documentation system or on the law page of the Federal Ministry of Health. Only promulgation makes the law binding.

Which Steps and Which Amount Did the Draft Provide?

According to the LTO account of the cabinet draft (as of 19 May 2026), partial incapacity was to be certified in steps of 25, 50 or 75 percent of regular weekly working time. With 40 weekly hours and 50 percent, you could then work 20 hours. In the first six weeks, the employer’s continued pay was to remain unchanged. After that the employer would pay proportionately for the hours worked, and the health insurer would pay partial sickness benefit for the part that falls away.

Partial sickness benefit was to be 70 percent of the lost gross pay, but at most 90 percent of net pay. A reduction of the sickness benefit level that had originally been planned was, according to this account, dropped. Neither the duration of continued pay nor the maximum period of sickness benefit is extended. These values describe the draft. Whether they appear unchanged in the enacted text is shown by the committee recommendation and the Federal Law Gazette.

Assumption for illustration: with gross pay of 3,000 euros per month and 50 percent partial incapacity, the lost part would be 1,500 euros gross. Partial sickness benefit at the draft value of 70 percent would be 1,050 euros, capped by the net limit of 90 percent. This is purely an illustration. Your actual payment depends on the specific sickness benefit entitlement that your insurer calculates.

Who Must Consent, and How Does the Employer Decide?

According to the amendment motions of the CDU/CSU and SPD, certification and notification of partial incapacity may take place only with the consent of the insured person. Without consent, the doctor checks whether full incapacity for work exists (Ärzteblatt, 6 July 2026). In addition, the employer is obliged to pay proportionate pay, and there is no right to have the workplace adapted, as the report also states.

In the cabinet draft, the employer was to declare within seven calendar days whether it agrees, and silence was to count as consent. If it refuses, full sick leave remains. The committee report on the later version mentions fallback options if the partial incapacity is discontinued or the employer refuses, without giving details. The details of the medical certification are, according to the draft, to be regulated by a guideline of the Federal Joint Committee (G-BA), which follows only after promulgation.

What Does This Mean for Career Starters?

The rule matters for career starters once they are statutorily insured and employed and a longer illness occurs. According to the draft, privately insured people and mini-jobbers are excluded. Continued pay in the first weeks remains the employer’s responsibility, see Continued pay during illness: how long the employer pays. For reporting the incapacity itself, the deadlines in Sick notes: deadlines for employer and health insurer still apply. Until partial incapacity takes effect, the existing routes remain: full sick leave or a phased return to work.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does partial sickness benefit apply in 2027?

According to the budget committee report of 8 July 2026, the health committee postponed the start to 1 July 2028. The cabinet draft had still provided for 2027. The promulgated legal text is decisive.

Can my employer refuse a partial sick note?

Under the draft, the employer’s consent was required, with a response period of seven calendar days. If it refuses, full sick leave remains. The exact wording of the fallback options added later is in the legal text.

Do I get partial sickness benefit as a student?

The rule is tied to an employment relationship and a sickness benefit entitlement. Whether students receive sickness benefit at all depends on their insurance status and is covered in a separate article.

Do I have to agree to a partial sick note?

Yes. Certification and notification of partial incapacity are, according to the amendment motions, to take place only with your consent. Without consent the doctor checks whether full incapacity for work exists.

What to Do Now

1. Check the law page of the Federal Ministry of Health to see whether the law has been promulgated and from when partial incapacity applies.
2. Until the start, keep using the existing routes: full sick leave or a phased return to work.
3. In a long illness, talk early with your doctor and employer about working hours and tasks.
4. Ask your health insurer how it calculates sickness benefit and which proof it needs.

Related Articles

• Sickness benefit for students: is there any? (in German)
• Continued pay during illness: how long the employer pays
• Sick notes: deadlines for employer and health insurer
• Sick note by phone: will it be abolished?
• Emergency care reform 2027: the new rules

Sources: Bundestag, paper 21/7023, budget committee report on the GKV Contribution Rate Stabilisation Act (8 July 2026, in German), BMG, Bundestag passes the GKV Contribution Rate Stabilisation Act (10 July 2026, in German), Deutsches Ärzteblatt (6 July 2026, in German) and Legal Tribune Online on the draft (19 May 2026, in German). Academycon offers personal advice on health insurance: How we work (in German).

Last updated: November 2026. This guide is general information, not individual advice.