If you become ill on Saturday and will not be able to work on Monday, you face a practical question: Where do you get a medical certificate on a Saturday when your regular doctor's office is closed? The answer depends on where you live, how severe your symptoms are, and which healthcare service you wish to use. This article clarifies what the law requires, what options are available, and how to reliably obtain a medical certificate (AU – Arbeitsunfähigkeitsbescheinigung) on a Saturday.
Must I obtain a sick leave certificate on Saturday?
Whether a medical certificate must be issued on Saturday depends on your employment contract and any applicable collective agreement. Many employers only require the AU from the third day of illness onwards. However, if you will not be able to work on Monday and your employer requires uninterrupted documentation from the start of illness, you should not wait until Monday.
A doctor can issue a medical certificate retroactively from the start of the illness, provided the symptoms are clinically verifiable upon examination. Retroactively typically means from the day before the examination. If you become ill on Saturday and see a doctor on Monday, the certificate may only apply from Monday onwards – not retroactively from Saturday. An examination on Saturday itself closes this gap.
Where can you get a medical certificate on Saturday?
In principle, any doctor working on Saturday can issue a medical certificate – provided the examination reveals medically justified work incapacity. In practice, there are several options on Saturday: the emergency duty practice (KV-Notdienstpraxis) in your residential area, the emergency department of a hospital, or a private emergency medical service.
The emergency department is intended for severe and life-threatening cases and is not an appropriate place to obtain a medical certificate. The emergency duty practice is structurally better suited, but on Saturdays it often experiences high patient volume and correspondingly long waiting times – which for someone sick enough to warrant a medical certificate represents a considerable additional burden.
Medical certificate on Saturday via house call – the more convenient solution
A private emergency medical service that operates as a house call offers a fundamentally different solution. Instead of visiting a practice while sick and exhausted, you stay at home – the doctor comes to you. The examination takes place in your own apartment, and if the findings medically justify work incapacity, the certificate is issued on the spot. Legally, this certificate is fully valid and identical to one issued in a regular practice.
For people unable to leave the house, for families with small children, or for anyone who does not wish to burden their sick body unnecessarily, the private emergency house call is the most medically sensible and practically superior option. For more information about our services, please visit here.
What should you note about a medical certificate issued on Saturday?
A medical certificate issued on Saturday is valid from the date noted on it and must be submitted to your employer in a timely manner – typically no later than the first working day after any waiting period specified in your contract has expired. The date of issuance and the date work incapacity began may differ if the doctor determines the illness retroactively.
It is important that the certificate was issued by a licensed physician and contains all required information. A certificate from a private emergency house call service meets these requirements completely.
Medical certificate on Saturday in Berlin – RAB as a reliable option
If you need a medical certificate on Saturday in Berlin, the private emergency medical service RAB Berlin is available daily between 6 and 24 o'clock. After a brief telephone call, the doctor typically arrives at your home within 60 to 90 minutes. A complete examination is performed on-site, and if work incapacity is medically justified, the certificate is issued immediately – without waiting times, without travel, without additional burden.
Billing is according to the physician fee schedule. Private insurance patients typically have costs reimbursed; self-payers and statutory insurance patients with supplemental coverage can also use the service without complication.
Factual note on service use
If you need a medical certificate on Saturday in Berlin and there is no acute emergency, you can reach the private emergency medical service RAB Berlin daily between 6 and 24 o'clock by telephone at +49 30 550 77 870. Further information and the option to book appointments directly can be found here.
In most cases, the house call takes place within 60 to 90 minutes of your request.