Occupational diseases


I have carried out activities which put me at risk both abroad and more recently in Germany. Which country is responsible for checking whether the conditions for an occupational disease are met and, if they are, who provides compensation for it?
A distinction must be made as to whether the employment was carried out outside Germany within the scope of the EC regulations, in a country with which Germany has concluded a convention on social security, or in a country with which Germany is not linked by EC regulations or a convention on social security.
In the case of employment within the scope of the EC regulations:
in principle, the institution of the Member State in which an activity that could put the worker at risk was last pursued is responsible for processing and providing compensation for the occupational disease. When assessing whether the conditions for an occupational disease are met, the institution is to take into account all activities which were carried out in other countries subject to EC regulatory powers and which, by their nature, were likely to have caused the disease.
In the case of employment in a country with which Germany has concluded a convention on social security:
Insofar as the convention contains a provision on occupational diseases, the periods in which the worker was put at risk which were completed in the other contracting State must also be taken into account when determining whether the requirements for an occupational disease are met. If the worker in question is entitled to a pension, the competent institutions must pay a pro rata pension corresponding to the period during which the worker was put at risk in their respective territories as a proportion of the total of all such periods (pro rata calculation).
In the case of employment in a country with which Germany is not linked by EC regulations or a convention on social security:
  • If there was no period during which the worker was put at risk in Germany, or if the duration of such a period is not sufficient to cause the disease, an occupational disease cannot be recognised.
  • If the duration of such a period is sufficient for the occupational disease to be recognised in Germany and thus the conditions for an occupational disease are met under German law, Germany is to provide benefits under Book VII of the German Social Code (Siebtes Buch Sozialgesetzbuch – SGB VII).

Contact

Foreign liaison body

Matthias Hauschild
Tel: +49 30 13001-1610

Theresa Müller
Tel: +49 30 13001-1614

Adriana Weigel
Tel: +49 30 13001-1616