FAQs on what to do in the event of illness

Employees must report sickness using the e-form (https://forms.uni-bayreuth.de/formcycle/form/alias/1/eAU/).

It is recommended that the respective secretariat and/or supervisor be specified as an additional addressee in the e-form to ensure that the information is passed on. The report will not be forwarded automatically.

The report must be made in person. In exceptional cases, the notification can be made by the relevant secretariat. All necessary information must be provided by the employee.

It is not necessary to report sickness/illness via the form server on non-working days.

The e-form on the intranet is to be used for the following notifications:

• Incapacity for work
• Accident at work/ commuting accident
• Approved rehabilitation measure/treatment at health resort
• Notification of good health
• Child ill/child healthy

The relevant selection must be made by clicking on the respective field.

The e-form was developed for use on a PC, but it can also be used on a smartphone. We recommend switching to the PC view for this purpose; it may be necessary to align the smartphone horizontally.

The e-form is also available in English (language setting top right).

In the free text field, you can add any necessary information on incapacity for work, for example if you have fallen ill during a working day or have started working again before the predicted end of your incapacity for work.

• If the incapacity for work lasts longer than three calendar days, the employee must submit a medical certificate confirming incapacity for work and its expected duration no later than the following working day (4th calendar day).
• The deadline refers to calendar days, which is why weekends, public holidays and non-working days are included in this deadline.

Example: In the case of incapacity for work that begins on Friday and lasts over the weekend, the medical certificate is required by Monday at the latest.

What should I bear in mind if I am still ill after the end of the initial certificate?

If the incapacity to work lasts longer than stated in the certificate, the employee is obligated to submit a new medical certificate (follow-up certificate) and inform the employer of the extension.

A new digital notification of absence must be submitted, in which the "follow-up certificate" field must be marked.

• Employees covered by statutory health insurance:

As of 1 January 2023, the previous paper certificate was replaced by a digital procedure. This electronic certificate of incapacity for work (eAU) is forwarded directly from the doctor's practice to the respective health insurance provider and can be retrieved by the HR department there. As a rule, it is therefore no longer necessary to submit a paper certificate of incapacity for work to the employer.

• Privately insured persons and civil servants: 

The digital eAU procedure does not apply to privately insured persons/civil servants. This group must continue to submit the original paper certificate.

If work is interrupted during the working day due to incapacity for work, the entire day is not counted as incapacity for work. This day does not count as the start of the incapacity for work.

The entitlement to continued remuneration applies from the time of the interruption of work and covers the working time until the target time is reached. The day does not count as a full day of illness and therefore does not have to be reported. Consequently, there is also no need to report sick when returning the next day. When leaving the workplace, the employee must book "sick leave".

Please note: However, the aborted day does count as one of the possible three calendar days without a medical certificate of incapacity for work.

When starting work after an illness, a sick note must be submitted on the first working day (not on days off) using the e-form.

A vacation or flex day taken immediately after the illness counts as a return to work.  Health notifications must not be made in advance.

Without this notification of illness, the employee will continue to be recorded as ill, which may lead to an interruption in continued payment of wages.

If the employee falls ill during vacation, the vacation days lost due to the illness can be made up, provided that the inability to work has been proven by a medical certificate.

The medical certificate is required from the first day of illness. The employer must also be informed of the inability to work on the first day of illness. The proven days are credited to the vacation account.

It is not possible to credit vacation days without a doctor's certificate and notification.

A digital notification of absence via the UBT e-form is also required if your child falls ill. This also applies when starting work after the child has recovered.

The child's illness must be documented from the first day with a medical certificate from the first day. 

• If the employee or the child is privately insured, the original medical certificate must be submitted.
• For employees with statutory insurance and children with statutory insurance, the medical certificate can be uploaded via the form server and sent together with the notification.

After starting work, the vacation or green card with the corresponding entries and signatures must also be submitted to the time recording/human resources department.

If vacation or flexitime days have already been approved, these remain valid. It is not possible to submit a "child ill" note.

a. Employees covered by statutory health insurance:

Employees do not receive any pay from the university for the time they are off work. However, they are entitled to child sick pay via their statutory health insurance upon application. The maximum number of sick days can be found in the current statutory provisions (§ 45 para 2 and 2a SGB V).

b. Civil servants and privately insured persons:

Civil servants are entitled to paid leave from work in accordance with civil service regulations and employees with private health insurance are entitled to paid leave from work in accordance with collective or individual contractual agreements. Civil servants receive a special payment with continued payment of salary if the child is ill.

c. Employees covered by statutory health insurance whose children are privately insured:

There is the possibility of time off work of up to four working days per calendar year in accordance with § 29 para 1 sentence 1 e) bb) TV-L.

Rehabilitation measures: The approval of the rehabilitation provider and the invitation letter from the rehabilitation clinic must be submitted before the start of the measure, and the certificate of residence from the rehabilitation clinic must be submitted after discharge.

Mother-child treatment: Before starting the treatment, the approval of the health insurance provider and the invitation letter from the treatment clinic must be submitted, after discharge the certificate of residence of the facility.

After a medical consultation, an application for gradual reintegration must be submitted to the relevant health insurance or rehabilitation provider.

The individual reintegration plan drawn up by the attending physician in consultation with the employee must be submitted to the HR department for further processing before the start of the gradual reintegration.