Teacher on sick leave causes excitement in North Rhine-Westphalia – disciplinary proceedings are underway!

Teacher on sick leave causes excitement in North Rhine-Westphalia – disciplinary proceedings are underway!

The media is currently focusing on a teacher from North Rhine-Westphalia who is said to have appeared in two television cooking shows during his year-long sick leave. The Cologne district government then initiated disciplinary proceedings. This measure became necessary after a corresponding written statement from the teacher, which the authorities requested in a timely manner. Concrete details about the case have been released very sparsely due to data protection reasons, but the authority can confirm that it is taking the suspicion seriously and is investigating. According to wa.de, the teacher was asked to clarify whether the shows were recorded during his sick leave or whether they were simply broadcast.

The excitement about teachers on sick leave is not new in North Rhine-Westphalia. The case of the teacher in question is reminiscent of a teacher from the Ruhr area who has been on sick leave for 16 years and yet has never had to see a medical officer. This fact only became public due to a change in management, which resulted in an official medical examination. Data from the Ministry of Education shows that 745 civil servants have currently been on sick leave for more than six months, of which 582 have not been on duty for over a year. This suggests a worrying trend that is re-inflaming the discussion about controls for teachers with long-term illnesses Tagesspiegel reports.

Background and legal provisions

In North Rhine-Westphalia, schools must report absences due to illness. In the case of long-term illnesses of more than three months within six months, an official medical procedure is initiated. This is intended to ensure that teachers who are permanently unable to work are treated accordingly. Civil servants receive full pay during their sick leave, which reflects the maintenance principle of civil servant pay. But let's face it, while some teachers are using the time to recover, there is also the question of what is and isn't legally allowed. According to Tagesschau, deductions could be made from salary and pension if a retired teacher is declared unfit for service.

The worrying situation in the teaching sector is also reflected in the numbers: There are currently a total of 7,000 unfilled teaching positions in North Rhine-Westphalia. The total job requirement is approximately 171,600 positions, an increase of 6,500 since December 2022. This need is further strengthened by the increase in the number of students, the expansion of all-day schooling and the comprehensive implementation of inclusion. This all plays into the discussion about teachers who appear in public despite being on sick leave. FDP state parliament member Franziska Müller-Rech is therefore calling for stricter controls in order to avoid such abuses in the future.