A Private Sick Note With Statutory Insurance

May you see a private doctor with statutory insurance?

Yes, at any time. People with statutory insurance may use private medical services as self-payers; membership of a health insurance fund does not stand in the way. You conclude a treatment contract directly with the doctor and receive an invoice under the German scale of fees for doctors.

This becomes relevant whenever things have to move quickly: no appointment with your family doctor, a weekend, or simply no strength for a waiting room.

Is a private sick note valid with my employer?

Yes. Section 5 (1) of the Continued Remuneration Act requires a medical certificate and does not distinguish between a panel doctor and a private doctor. The channel does not matter either, as long as genuine contact with a doctor took place: the Arbeitsgericht Erfurt gave a private video sick note full evidential value (judgment of 19 July 2023, case no. 4 Ca 32/23).

Caution is only needed with questionnaire offers without a consultation: the Landesarbeitsgericht Hamm upheld the summary dismissal of an employee who had submitted a certificate issued solely through an online questionnaire (judgment of 5 September 2025, case no. 14 SLa 145/25).

Why can my employer not find the certificate in the eAU system?

Because the electronic route exists only in the statutory panel-doctor system. Panel doctors report incapacity for work to the health insurer and the employer retrieves it there electronically. Private doctors are not connected to that system.

From a private doctor you therefore receive the certificate as a document, here as a PDF, and submit it to your employer yourself. The fact that it does not appear in the eAU retrieval does not make it invalid; if in doubt, simply point out that it is a private certificate.

A special case is sick pay after continued pay ends: for that the health insurer itself needs a notification of the incapacity for work. You submit a private certificate there yourself; for a foreseeably longer illness, a personal examination in a practice is the right route anyway.

Why the certificate does not appear in the eAU retrieval, and why that is not a defect →

What does it cost and does my health insurer contribute?

The consultation usually costs €49.99 and is billed under the German scale of fees for doctors. Statutory health insurance does not reimburse private self-pay services; you carry the cost yourself.

In return there is no waiting room and no app requirement: you choose an appointment online, speak by video to a doctor licensed in Germany, and if incapacity for work is medically justifiable you receive the certificate as a PDF; the doctor sets the duration individually during the consultation.