In Europe, you don't generally get "sick days" - you're entitled to stay at home or in hospital for as long as it takes for you to get better (even for years, if necessary). In the meantime, your salary is paid by the state, so you're not an unproductive burden for your employer. At least that's how it works in Poland.
True, but that also means you cannot take a day off because you're not feeling it. You need at a doctor to attest that you're physically incapable of working. And in Germany, the employer has the right to demand a doctor's note from day one.
You can take a day off when you're not feeling it and don't want to go to the doctor, but it will be subtracted from your paid vacations. You can do that for up to four days a year. It's not that much different than the sick days in the US, which are often bundled together with vacation days into PTO (Paid Time Off).
Are you talking about Germany? Because if you want to take a vacation day, it is subject to approval by the employer. They can deny if they have a good reason. And in many cases, like in my case, a short term absence would ruin a customer project and would thus certainly not be approved.
I don't know about German law, I was talking about Poland. In Poland, the employer cannot refuse to give you a day off (even if your request it on the very day), four times a year.
In salaried (I don't recall the proper Polish term) jobs in Poland, I understand that employees must take at least two consecutive weeks off per year. This intel is about ten years out of date though, so don't know what the situation is now.
My understanding of Germany's rules is hat a policy about needing notes from day 1 has to be in the contract, otherwise the requirement kicks in on day 3 or 4 (I forget which). And the doctor's note doesn't have to claim that you're "physically" incapable - mental health problems also qualify.
