Once your illness has been certified by a doctor (Krankschreibung), your employer will usually continue to pay your normal wages or salary for 6 weeks. After that, the statutory health fund (Krankenkasse) takes over in the case of patients who have this form of health insurance. The statutory health fund pays for up to 78 weeks per case of illness. If your employer has already continued to pay you for six weeks, the statutory health fund pays for a maximum of 72 weeks. If you have questions about sick pay, your health fund will help.

Those with private health insurance are also entitled to payments for loss of earnings in the case of illness if they have arranged additional insurance cover for this. Here, too, you should contact your insurance company if you are unsure.

If the illness continues for more than 78 weeks and it is still not clear whether you will apply for a pension or return to work, you may be entitled to make use of the so-called "Nahtlosigkeitsregelung” (which literally means “seamlessness rule”). This rule is intended to fill any gaps in time between entitlement to sick pay and such arrangements as a later return to work or the planned beginning of a pension. You can apply for unemployment benefit (Arbeitlosengeld I) for this period.

In longer-lasting cases of illness, Erwerbsminderungsrente (reduced working capacity pension) may be an option.

If you are a member of one of the social advocacy organizations (such as VdK or SoVD), you can enlist the help of its lawyers when making applications or appealing against decisions. You can also obtain legal advice and representation if you are a member of a trade union.

Further information about payment during illness is provided in a brochure produced by Betanet which you can download here.

This question can only be answered for your individual case. If you are off sick with COVID-19, this may last a few weeks or several months depending on the severity of your illness. The long-term effects of the illness are also different in different cases and can affect your future working life to a greater or lesser extent.

Most of those who have had COVID-19 can go back to their old job after recovering from the illness. However, in some cases, long COVID reduces a person's ability to work and concentrate for longer periods of time.

In some cases, people who have been off sick for a longer period are able to ease back into work gradually, starting on a part-time basis and progressively increasing their hours (a graduated part-time working arrangement or Teilzeitregelung). If this is an option you would consider, you should ask your employer about it.
You may be entitled to a partial reduced working capacity pension (Teilerwerbsminderungsrente) which helps to make up for the loss of earnings due to part-time working. 

It may be that you caught COVID-19 because of your job, for example healthcare work in contact with infected people. If your COVID-19 is classed as an occupational illness (Berufskrankheit) you are entitled to special benefits. Further information about occupational illnesses is available here.

Medical or vocational rehabilitation can improve your physical capacity and help you to get back into working life after a period of illness. Further information about rehabilitation is available in the “Rehabilitation” section.

From a medical point of view, ambulatory rehabilitation – the kind you attend on a daily basis – is just as valuable as residential rehabilitation. The only difference is that, with ambulatory rehabilitation, you spend the nights and weekends at home.

The general rule, however, is "ambulatory before residential". You are only entitled to residential rehabilitation if all the available ambulatory options have been considered and are felt to be unhelpful.

Some rehabilitation methods are only possible on an ambulatory basis, such as those focused on coping with special situations in your normal environment (avoiding falls in your own home, for instance).

Problems can arise if you take on too much at home at the same time (such as climbing stairs, housework, shopping, cooking, cleaning or work tasks). Domestic stress factors can limit the success of rehabilitation.

In spite of this, it can be helpful to choose ambulatory rehabilitation so that you can practice everyday actions and procedures.

The aim is to take account of individual needs and rehabilitation goals and to choose a suitable rehabilitation option. If you are to undergo rehabilitation, you should get medical advice and discuss with professionals what type of rehabilitation would be best in your case.

Further information about rehabilitation is available from the national pension authority Deutsche Rentenversicherung.

You - the patient - have a right to express wishes and decide which rehabilitation clinic to choose. Because COVID-19 is a relatively “new” illness, there are so far only a few rehabilitation clinics specializing in its treatment. So when choosing a place to go for rehabilitation, you should ask your doctor for advice. Your health fund (Krankenkasse) may also be able to advise you and provide information when you are choosing a rehabilitation clinic.

Online databases can give you initial information about where rehabilitation clinics are located and which medical problems they focus on.

An overview of rehabilitation centers run by the national pension authority Deutsche Rentenversicherung and specializing in COVID-19 is available here.

The Federal Rehabilitation Council (BAR) also provides an online database of rehabilitation clinics.

The relevant funding body decides whether to approve rehabilitation. (This is usually the national pension authority or a statutory health fund.)

If the application is refused, you can ask the funding body to explain why in writing. You can lodge an objection within a period of one month after delivery of the refusal. You have the right to consult their file about you and you should make use of this right. It’s best to apply to consult the file when you lodge your objection, requesting copies of the medical findings and the MDK ‘s statement. As soon as you receive this information you should discuss the reasons for the refusal with your doctor to establish a basis for your objection.

When preparing your objection, you can also obtain help from the advice centers of the social advocacy organizations VdK and SoVD and from UPD, Germany’s independent patient advisory body.

Further information about rehabilitation is available from the national pension authority Deutsche Rentenversicherung and from the Federal Rehabilitation Council (BAR).

Private health insurance companies have different rulings depending on the policy. If you have private health insurance, you should contact your health insurer to clarify what you are entitled to.

You should discuss and agree the application with your doctor.

If the rehabilitation period is to follow on directly after a stay in hospital, you should consult the hospital’s social service (Sozialdienst) about it as soon as possible. Ask the social service in your hospital whether they can help you to apply for rehabilitation.

Information and advice on applying for rehabilitation is also available from the information and advice centers of the national pension authority Deutsche Rentenversicherung and from the statutory health funds (Krankenkassen).

If you have questions about rehabilitation there are people you can approach for advice.

To apply for rehabilitation, the first person to approach is your doctor. He/she will discuss with you whether rehabilitation could be helpful for you right now and which clinic would be suitable.

If you are in hospital, the hospital’s social service (Sozialdienst) can help with information and advice about rehabilitation.

You can also approach EUTB (independent inclusion advice service) as an external source of advice. They provide advice and support on all questions relating to rehabilitation and can do so either by phone or at local advice centers.

Further information is available from statutory health funds (Krankenkassen) and from the national pension authority Deutsche Rentenversicherung.

To qualify for rehabilitation you need to meet the following criteria.

• A doctor has to confirm that rehabilitation is medically necessary.
• The rehabilitation procedure must be approved by the funding body.

For post-COVID-19 rehabilitation, you must also be free of acute infection. This usually means you have to take a PCR test before starting rehabilitation.

An application for medical rehabilitation is normally made through the family doctor or a specialist who can confirm that it is medically necessary.

After serious illness with COVID-19 and an in-patient stay in hospital, rehabilitation can also be organized by the hospital. It can then follow on directly after the hospital stay.

Further information is available from your health insurer or from Deutsche Rentenversicherung or other bodies that fund procedures to aid social inclusion.

Information and support on all matters relating to inclusion and rehabilitation are also available from local EUTB (independent inclusion advice service) centers.

COVID-19 can cause a variety of longer-lasting symptoms. For example, it can result in psychological problems and/or malfunction of the heart, nervous system and/or lungs leading to rapid exhaustion with exercise, muscle weakness, shortness of breath, dizziness, concentration problems and fatigue.

This means a wide range of different forms of rehabilitation can be helpful depending on how the illness played out in each individual case. They include training for stamina and strength, physiotherapy, breathing physiotherapy and psychotherapy.

Further information about rehabilitation is available from Deutsche Rentenversicherung.

The word “rehabilitation” (German uses the same word, often shortening it to just "Reha") means procedures that help to restore health and enable patients to take an active part in social and working life. For adult patients, the aim of rehabilitation is often to help people with health issues to return to work or to get started in a different line of work.

A distinction is made between vocational and medical rehabilitation. Vocational rehabilitation includes such things as adaptations to a person’s workplace or retraining so that they can work in spite of their illness. Medical rehabilitation aims to maintain or improve the person’s state of health.

After people have been seriously ill with COVID-19, perhaps spending time in hospital, medical rehabilitation can be helpful to improve their health so that they are able to return to their everyday lives.

If you are wondering whether rehabilitation is an option for you, you should ask your doctor. He /she can discuss with you whether rehabilitation would be useful and which clinic might be suitable.

Whether it is then approved depends on various factors including the type of illness and its likely effects on your future working life.

Rehabilitation is usually funded by the national pension authority (Deutsche Rentenversicherung) or by the statutory health funds.

Further information about rehabilitation is available from Deutsche Rentenversicherung.