Child sickness benefit is paid to parents if their child is sick and they cannot come to work. The conditions for this include, among other things, that the child is under 12 years old, no other person in the household can take care of it and the parent and child do not have private health insurance.
Every legally insured child is entitled to wage replacement for a maximum of 15 working days for each parent in the calendar year. Single parents insured can use this for 30 days. If there are several children under 12 in the house, each parent is paid for 35 days per year. Since December 2023, parents have been able to request a child sickness benefit certificate from the pediatrician by telephone for up to five days. The child must be known to the practice through previous examinations and the child's illness is mild. In principle, parents should also know that they have no legal right to receive a sick note from their child over the telephone. “The doctor decides whether the procedure is medically justifiable”