Since 1 January 2023, it has been binding for all employers: the eAU procedure. This means that employees only have to inform their employer informally of the start and expected end of their incapacity for work after a sick note. The obligation to send the paper certificate to the employer or submit it in person no longer applies. Insured persons will only receive a single printout for personal use on request.
Retrieval of eAU Data Records From Health Insurance Companies
With immediate effect, employers are obliged to electronically retrieve the corresponding eAU data record of the employee who has reported sick from a communication server of the respective health insurance fund. This is where the medical practices transmit the relevant information. There are two possible ways for companies to retrieve the data:
- via a certified extension of the payroll accounting software used or
- via sv.net - an electronic completion aid developed by the ITSG (Informationstechnische Servicestelle der gesetzlichen Krankenversicherung) on behalf of all health insurance funds.
Integration of Further Certificates
This regulation initially only applies to certificates from
- contract physicians and dentists,
- for accidents at work and
- inpatient stays in hospital.
Other certificates, e.g. from
- private doctors,
- doctors abroad,
- illnesses of the child or
- rehabilitation services are to follow in the short to medium term.
What Contribution Does the Profahr Personnel Scheduling System Make?
As a personnel scheduling system, Profahr offers options for further simplifying and accelerating the internal company processes required for the eAU procedure.
They are used whenever employees - e.g. from the transport service - report absences to the scheduling department rather than the HR department:
1.) After sick leave, employees use the mobile communication solution BIK (subject to licence) to record their absence via tablet, smartphone or PC, regardless of time and location. They enter both the start and end of the sick note and select the option "sick without receipt" from the drop-down menu, for example. The employee's absence is immediately taken into account for planning purposes, while the absence cannot yet be evaluated for payroll purposes. In companies that do not have a BIK licence and where sickness is also reported via scheduling, e.g. by telephone or email communication, the schedulers carry out the steps described above directly in Profahr.
2.) Profahr transfers the planned absences to the company's existing HR system via an export/import interface (subject to licence), which usually also carries out the query with the health insurance company. Note: Medical practices can transmit the eAU data to the health insurance companies by midnight on the day of treatment at the latest. It is therefore advisable not to retrieve the data record from the health insurance companies until the following day.
3.) Profahr retrieves the data record via an automated, daily query and transfers the absence status from "sick without receipt" to "sick". The system also compares the originally created information with the eAU data record and automatically adjusts this and the duty rota if necessary.
Advantages Through Profahr
- Employees can report their sick leave via the mobile communication solution BIK
- Dispatchers record telephone sick notes in the Profahr personnel scheduling system
- Absences are immediately taken into account for scheduling purposes
- Sickness notifications via the scheduling system are transmitted to the HR system
- Updating the absence status in conjunction with the HR system
- Automated data adjustment and scheduling planning
- Continuous, accelerated company processes
- Modern employer branding
Consistent eAU Corporate Processes
At first glance, the eAU obligation does not affect scheduling systems such as Profahr. In practice, however, it has been shown that the driving service in particular reports absences to the scheduling department rather than the HR department.
By mapping the associated processes in Profahr, companies can retain proven communication channels and implement the eAU procedure quickly and efficiently.