The case of a teacher from Duisburg, who was on sick leave for more than 16 years, appears to have consequences for the civil service in North Rhine-Westphalia. According to a representative of the Ministry of Education, all procedures for dealing with long-sick civil servants are now being reviewed.
This is intended to make procedures more uniform and significantly faster. “It is unacceptable for public servants to abuse sick leave and thereby burden colleagues and harm the employer and therefore the public,” the spokesman said.
After the unusual case became known, the ministry said it contacted all district authorities in North Rhine-Westphalia to check what was happening. In addition, the state government, under the leadership of the Ministry of Finance, is working on guidelines that are intended to standardize the procedure for testing the fitness for service of civil servants of all professional groups.
Then a lot can change: assessments by medical professionals will be possible more quickly, and health authorities outside the place of residence or work will also be able to take over the examination to reduce previously long waiting times. Spiegel was the first to report this.
Disciplinary proceedings are currently suspended.
The ministry emphasizes that today mandatory control mechanisms are already in place. Disease reports will be sent by schools to district governments and monitored there. If the illness lasts more than six weeks, “company integration management” is suggested. If you are sick for more than three months within a six month period, a formal medical procedure will usually begin.
The teacher’s case caused a stir throughout Germany, as the civil servant had been on sick leave since 2009 without being examined by an official doctor. She works at a vocational college in Wesel. Now the 62-year-old man is under investigation on suspicion of commercial fraud – this is the period for which disciplinary proceedings have been suspended. She has now filed a claim against her retirement, but she is currently still receiving a pension rather than a full salary as before.