Sick Leave Fraud | Malingerers

One of the main areas of responsibility of our IHK-certified and experienced corporate investigators at Kurtz Detective Agency Kiel and Schleswig-Holstein is conducting investigations in cases of suspected continued remuneration fraud. Our investigators undertake surveillance of the employee in question and, should your suspicions be confirmed, provide court-admissible evidence for the successful prosecution of the offender: +49 431 3057 0053.

The “Yellow Sick Note” – Fraud Against the Employer and the Social Insurance Providers

First of all: of course, not every employee who reports sick is a fraudster. Doctors are distracted from genuinely ill patients by individuals feigning illness with invented complaints – so-called “malingerers”. The range of possible reasons for the “application” for an unjustified AU (certificate of incapacity for work) is broad: working on one’s own home, attending concerts and sporting events, taking a few extra days beyond annual leave entitlement, or pursuing unauthorised secondary employment. Apart from the costs of continued remuneration, which you as an employer must bear – depending on the size of the company in a greater or lesser financial amount – the social insurance providers are also financially burdened in the event of reimbursement under the German Act on Compensation for Employer Expenditure (AAG). Our professional corporate investigators from Kiel help you to hold the dishonest employee or employees accountable. Describe your case to us in an email to kontakt@kurtz-detektei-kiel.de.

Undesirable Role Model Effect for the Workforce

In addition to the financial burdens associated with a fraudulently obtained AU, image and reputational damage must also be feared. On the one hand, possibly among your clients, whose appointments must be postponed because precisely the employee responsible for this specific area of responsibility and or client base is malingering. If this employee is frequently absent and clients must repeatedly be fobbed off, they are likely to turn away from your company due to a perceived lack of reliability. On the other hand, the employee’s lack of integrity may serve as an example to your workforce: either in a negative sense, because you fail to put a stop to the dishonest conduct and other employees also take advantage of your goodwill, or in a positive case, because you hold the employee accountable and thereby demonstrate to your staff the consequences of disloyal conduct.

In order to pursue the latter course of action, you will of course require solid evidence. Our experienced and specialised detectives in Kiel investigate the actual circumstances of the alleged incapacity for work on your behalf, conduct surveillance of the suspect and provide you with court-admissible evidence. If you would like to present your case to us, you are welcome to use our contact form for a non-binding, free enquiry.

Secondary Employment Despite Incapacity for Work

Some employees use feigned incapacity for work in order to pursue unauthorised – and often undeclared – secondary employment. While you assume that your sick employee is interested in regaining their ability to work, they may in fact be engaged in another occupation and receiving double pay for straightforward work. Frequently, these secondary jobs are not registered with the social insurance authorities or the tax office, which renders them illegal (undeclared work). Furthermore, there is a risk that the employee is carrying out this activity for a competing company. In addition to the losses already mentioned, there is the danger that your employee may pass on confidential company information to competitors.

Depending on the specific circumstances of the case, various appropriate investigative methods are available. In most cases, surveillance over several days is sufficient to document court-admissible evidence. In rare cases in which employees act particularly brazenly and, virtually at the moment they receive the AU from the doctor, board the next flight for a short holiday, surveillance may be somewhat more time-consuming and costly. If required, Kurtz Corporate Detective Agency Kiel and Schleswig-Holstein will gladly be at your disposal for an initial consultation and advise you comprehensively and without obligation on the case-specific options: +49 431 3057 0053.