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The cheapest makes it cheap
21st of May 2026 Article by Katja Scholz
The issue of the electronic sick note has been a hot topic for discussion in Germany, reports Katja Scholz for ECJ.
After the talks arranged in January regarding an additional special payment for IG-BAU members in association member companies - the so-called “union bonus” – broke down and the associated wage bargaining negotiations were declared a failure, another issue has now become the focus of discussion in the cleaning sector: electronic sick notes.
In the political debate in Germany, cleaning businesses are unequivocally at one with the federal chancellor and the federal minister of health: they would like to see a critical review. In the business survey of last autumn, the Federal Association of Contract Cleaners (BIV) was already pointing to the negative impact of it in its member companies, based on specific data collected by the sector. These results showed that the additional effort required by electronic sick notes was leading to resentment and in the companies’ view, more bureaucracy.
A further issue is also relevant: according to current figures, following removal of the time limit on the telephone sick note, the sickness rate had risen in 71 per cent of the companies questioned by the end of 2023. As evidence, companies quoted the following figures: in 33 per cent, the sickness rate had risen by up to 10 per cent; in almost a quarter by up to 20 per cent; while 7.5 per cent indicated a rise of up to 30 per cent.
Short-term
As federal guild master Thomas Dietrich explained: “The telephone sick note was useful as a short-term emergency measure during the pandemic to avoid personal contact and infection. Since this crisis has now passed, the removal of this emergency measure is overdue. A third point is that our sector figures show concrete proof that the telephone sicknote also drove up sickness rates. Looking at the issue from both sides - employee and employer - the removal of the telephone sick note is long overdue. In this respect, we strongly support the federal chancellor and the federal minister of health in putting this issue so high on their political agenda.”
While these employment and socio-political questions dominate discussions in the sector, the BIV is also turning its attention to the future and the structural demands of the market. The end of February saw the go-ahead given in Stuttgart for a series of conferences on public procurement. The background to this was the association’s aim to push, in cooperation with the tendering local authorities, for a change from pure competition to quality-oriented procurement.
Change of mindset
Oliver Knedlich, employer and chairman of the BIV working group on public procurement, says: “The knowledge is not always there in the local authorities - this is what our conference will focus on. If we don’t begin the conversation, the tendering mindset will never change. If I tender on the basis of price alone, it should be no surprise to me that I get the cheapest. And the cheapest - quite simply - makes it cheap!”
According to BIV figures, 56 per cent of member companies take part in pubic tendering processes. Almost 40 per cent report tendering is based purely on price and even a good 40 per cent admit that 75 per cent of decisions are based on price.
“Other factors besides price should carry at least the same weight, 50:50: sustainability, quality assurance, workforce management,” says Knedlich.
As far as BIV is concerned, one thing is clear: public procurement will remain, along with current employment and socio-political debate, a central future topic for the sector. The goal is to work together with local authorities to put greater emphasis on quality instead of concentrating on price alone.
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