Accident insurance / Work-related accidents

Accident insurance covers work-related accidents, accidents that occur on the way to and from work and occupational illnesses. All premiums are paid by the employer. The amount of coverage depends on the risk category.

You employer is required to register you with the accident insurer as soon as you start working. Every employee is insured through a trade association against accidents that occur during work or on the way to and from the workplace.

If you suffer a work-related accident, you must visit a Durchgangsarzt (also called D-Arzt, a physician specialized in accident-insurance cases) in Germany and report the accident. Your employer is required to enter the accident in an accident record and report it to the trade association. If you are certified as unable to work after the accident, you are entitled to claim compensation for injury.

Medical treatment and rehabilitation (emergency treatment, outpatient medical treatment for accident victims, home nursing care, medications, etc.)

Benefits in support of occupational and social integration (vocational training programmes, socio-educational counselling, household aid, travel costs, transportation aid, housing aid, etc.)

Compensation for injury is intended to compensate for the loss of income during periods of rehabilitation and after wage or salary payments from the employer cease. It amounts to 80% of the standard compensation, but may not exceed the injured persons regular net wages/salary.

Injured persons are eligible to receive transitional compensation during periods of participation in vocational rehabilitation programmes, because they are unable to pay their living expenses or those of their families during such periods.

Nursing-care allowances are paid to insured individuals who need nursing care following a work-related accident or while suffering from an occupational illness. The amount of the nursing-care allowance depends on the severity of the health impairment.

Trade associations pay a pension or partial pension in cases in which a reduced capacity for gainful employment is determined because of a work-related accident or an accident that occurred on the way to or from the workplace. The amount of the pension entitlement depends on the degree to which the person’s ability to work is impaired and his or her prior income.

Lump-sum settlement – Pension entitlements may be covered in the form of a lump-sum payment under certain circumstances.

The spouse, registered life partner and children of a deceased victim of a work-related accident or occupational disease become eligible to receive a survivor’s pension on the date of the injured party’s death.

A lump-sum death benefit is paid to survivors of the victim of a work-related accident or occupational disease. In 2026, the amount will be 6.780 euros in the west and in the east.

Under certain circumstances, the costs of transporting the remains to the place of burial may be covered.

Further information is provided at: www.dguv.de, DGB Sachsen