What exactly does the eAU mean for employers and digital payroll?
The electronic certificate of incapacity for work (elektronische Arbeitsunfähigkeitsbescheinigung, eAU) replaces the classic yellow paper certificate with a fully digital process. When employees fall ill and see a doctor, the treating doctor no longer sends the incapacity data on paper. Instead, it goes electronically to the employee's health insurance fund. The health insurance fund in turn makes the information available to employers, who can and must retrieve it electronically through a dedicated retrieval procedure.
This paradigm shift simplifies payroll accounting considerably. If you already use digital payroll software, you benefit in particular from the seamless integration of eAU data into your existing systems. Manual recording of sick days is largely eliminated, which saves time and reduces sources of error. For correct continued pay during illness (Entgeltfortzahlung), this is an important step forward that improves accuracy and speeds up administrative processes.
The digital sick note process: how the eAU works in practice
The process still starts with the visit to the doctor. If the doctor confirms incapacity for work, the relevant data is sent electronically and directly to the patient's health insurance fund. This includes information such as the start and expected end of the incapacity. It also states whether it is a first certificate or a follow-up certificate.
Despite digitalisation, employees still have a duty to inform. They must notify their employer of their illness without delay, as the law required before the eAU was introduced. The key difference is that the yellow certificate no longer has to be handed over physically. Instead, you as the employer retrieve the information you need electronically from the health insurance fund.
For payroll accounting, this is a clear simplification. The data is available to you promptly and can be transferred directly into digital payroll. This allows more precise planning of continued pay and faster processing of the monthly payroll. Modern payroll software can largely automate these processes. This considerably reduces the administrative workload for your HR department.
Benefits of the eAU for modern payroll accounting
The electronic certificate of incapacity for work brings many benefits that are especially relevant to efficient payroll accounting. The most obvious benefit is that the whole flow of information speeds up. In the past, sick notes had to be sent by post or handed in personally. Now the data is available almost in real time. This lets you react faster to staff absences and plan continued pay more precisely.
Another key benefit is less paperwork. You no longer need to archive physical documents. This saves space and meets the legal requirements for digital record keeping. Electronic archiving also makes records easier to trace. It creates transparency during audits by social security institutions or tax authorities.
For digital payroll, the eAU means significantly fewer errors. Transcription errors that can occur when sick note data is entered manually are minimised. Automatic transfer of the data into payroll software ensures greater accuracy when calculating continued pay, social security contributions and wage tax during periods of illness.
Important exceptions and special cases in payroll accounting
Despite its nationwide introduction, there are some exceptions you need to keep in mind in your payroll accounting. The eAU does not apply to employees with private health insurance. They are not insured through the statutory health insurance funds and are therefore outside the eAU system. For them, the traditional paper certificate remains standard practice.
Sick notes for parents caring for a sick child are also not covered by the eAU rules. The same goes for sick notes from mini-jobbers in private households. These special cases still require manual processing in payroll accounting. Your digital payroll must take them into account accordingly.
Another important aspect concerns technical faults or delays. Although the system is generally reliable, doctors may send certificates late or not at all. In such cases, the paper certificate that patients still receive serves as proof. Employees can present it if needed to prove their incapacity for work. For your payroll accounting, it is therefore advisable to set up a process for such exceptions alongside the eAU.
Integration into modern payroll software
Successful implementation of the eAU depends largely on the software used. Modern digital payroll solutions have already adapted their systems to the new requirements. They offer interfaces for retrieving eAU data from the health insurance funds. This integration allows sick notes to be processed seamlessly without switching between media.
For your company, this means you should make sure your payroll software is eAU-compatible and supports automated retrieval and processing of the data. Investing in future-proof digital payroll pays off in the long run here because manual steps disappear and the risk of errors falls.
Conclusion:
The electronic certificate of incapacity for work is far more than a replacement for a paper document. It is an important step towards fully digital HR processes and simplifies payroll accounting for the long term. You benefit from faster information flows, less administrative effort and better data quality in your payroll.
If you use modern digital payroll software, the eAU gives you the chance to optimise your processes further while staying legally compliant. Automated data processing takes work off your HR department and lets it focus on more strategic tasks. Your employees also benefit from a simpler procedure that saves them the trip to the HR department with the yellow certificate.
The eAU is a prime example of how digitalisation in payroll accounting leads to greater efficiency, transparency and service quality. If you actively shape this development and align your systems accordingly, you lay the foundation for future-proof, employee-friendly HR administration.
Do you have questions about implementing the eAU in your payroll accounting or are you looking for a modern digital payroll solution? The cleverlohn team is happy to support you with expertise and easy-to-use software that meets all current legal requirements. Get in touch and find out how cleverlohn simplifies your payroll accounting.
Sources:
National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KBV)
