Use the automatic eAU retrieval via the DATEV Integration – Personio

Note that this article is only relevant for you if your company is located in Germany. 🇩🇪

This article describes how you can automatically retrieve electronic sick certificates (eAU) via the DATEV integration. The eAU function needs to be set up in Personio and DATEV before you can use it.

How does the eAU functionality work?

Once this functionality has been set up in Personio and DATEV, whenever a time off request is made due to illness, the eAU will be automatically retrieved from the statutory health insurer by Personio via the DATEV integration and saved in Personio. Notifications will be sent whenever the status of the eAU request is updated. You can find further information below on when these will be triggered. This fully automates the eAU process.

Note
Note that the eAU request is made from the first day of a time off. This request is not linked to the setting that controls the point from which a certificate is required.

Example
If the eAU was created by a doctor on the day that the time off was entered, the eAU information will usually be available in Personio on the following day.

Which employees can use the eAU?

eAU retrieval is not an option for all employees:

Insured with statutory health insurance	eAU can be used
Privately insured	eAU cannot be used
Insured with other (non-private) health insurance	eAU can be used

Note
Employees with private health insurance should continue to follow the usual process of uploading their medical certificate manually.

In addition, automatic eAU retrieval only takes place under certain conditions. For further information on these conditions, please refer to the article Setting up the DATEV integration.

eAU status

The status of the eAU retrieval can be viewed within the time off, that is, within the relevant approval request. To view the status of other employees, you will need the following:

proposal or Proposal or editing rights for the relevant time off type under Settings > Employee roles > Access rights > Time off.
Viewing rights for certificates under Settings > Employee roles > Access rights > Documents > Certificates.

Status Pending
Status Confirmed

eAU Status in Individual Reports

The individual reports give you the opportunity to get an overview of the status of all eAU applications. The eAU Status column allows you to see at a glance which of your employees' eAU is pending, confirmed, or not required. This involves the following steps:

Navigate to Reports > Individual Reports and click Create Custom Report.
In Set Report Details , select Report Type > Time Period.
When selecting the date of the report, we recommend using the month or week period.
Under the table columns, select the Health insurance type and location attribute.
Under Collection: Time off Types (6 columns), select the corresponding time off type (for example, illness) to display the inability to work.
Under Set condition, filter for Germany-based employees with public health insurance, using the attributes Location and Type of health insurance.
Click Create Report to generate the report and get an overview of the eAU Status column.

Approvals

Time off can be approved as usual. This approval is not related to the eAU. If only an automated eAU retrieval takes place, the separate approval of the medical certificate is no longer required. If the employee also uploads a medical certificate manually, a separate approval workflow should be created for this.

Reminders

Employees who are eligible for eAU retrieval (those with statutory and other [non-private] health insurance) will no longer receive a reminder to upload a medical certificate. Employees with private health insurance will continue to receive this reminder. However, all employees still have the option of uploading a document via the certificate upload.

Notifications

The following people will receive email and direct account notifications regarding eAU retrievals and their status:

Status of the time off request	Notifications
The time off request has not yet been approved and all approvals are still required.	The first person in the approval step is notified about the eAU.
The time off has been approved by one person and one further approval is required.	The person responsible for the current approval step will be notified about the eAU.
The time off was approved on all steps and no further approvals are required.	Only the last person in the approval step is notified about the eAU.
When entering the time off, the approval was skipped and no further approval is needed.	Only the last person in the approval step is notified about the eAU.
A time off is entered for which no approval rule has been set.	If someone enters a time off for themselves, no notification is sent. If someone enters a time off for another person, the person who created the time off will be notified.
The time off was entered via the API, without an approval workflow.	The Admin whose profile was first created in Personio will be notified about the eAU.
The time off was entered via the API, with an approval workflow.	Only the last person in the approval step is informed about the eAU.

Note
▶︎ Theywill also be informed if an error occurs when retrieving the eAU or if no eAU is available.
▶ ︎ Wheneverthe eAU request is updated, notifications will always be sent to the employees for whom a time off period has been entered.

FAQ

When does eAU retrieval take place?

Personio automatically starts the eAU retrieval process for every time off request in the Sick leave category that also meets the other conditions, regardless of the length of the time off. eAUs are thus also requested for sick leave lasting only one day. If an eAU is available, it will automatically be saved in the time off.

What happens when no eAU is available?

If there is no eAU for a time off, a notification is sent. If the time off request is below the certificate requirement, a certificate is not required and no notification is sent. If you know that an eAU is available, you can recreate the time off to restart the eAU request.

Tip
If no eAU is available, we recommend asking the employee if they have seen a physician and whether an eAU should be available.

What happens when the time off dates do not match those on the eAU?

Example: The eAU does not cover the whole time off
A time off request was made for ten sick days, but the eAU only covers seven sick days.

▶︎ Personio sends a new eAU request to the statutory health insurer via DATEV in order to check whether another eAU has been received. A notification is sent to the approver of the final approval step (see Notifications).

What happens if several consecutive time off requests are made?

If several consecutive time off requests are made, a separate eAU is requested for each one.

Example 1: several time off
The employee first makes a time off request for three days and then on the third day makes a separate request for two further days. The eAU is retrieved for both time off requests.

▶︎ If the employee saw their physician only once and received a medical certificate for (at least) five days, the same eAU is transferred to both time off requests.
▶︎ If the employee saw their physician a second time to have the original medical certificate extended from three to five days, there will be two eAUs. Each eAU is then transferred to the corresponding time off request.

Example 2: extending the time off
The employee first makes a time off request for three days and then on the third day extends this to a total of five days. When the original time off request is extended, the eAU will be retrieved again.

▶︎ If the employee saw their physician only once and received a medical certificate for (at least) five days, this eAU is transferred to the time off requests.
▶︎ If the employee saw their physician a second time to have the original medical certificate extended from three to five days, there will be two eAUs. Both eAUs are transferred to the same time off request.

How long does it take for the eAU to appear in the time off in Personio?

Physicians normally upload the eAU to the statutory health insurer's server immediately after the employee's appointment with them. In this case, the eAU would normally be available in Personio the following day. However, there may be delays for a variety of reasons.

Can eAUs also be retrieved retrospectively?

To retrospectively retrieve an eAU, you will need to recreate the time off in Personio.

Does automatic eAU retrieval also work if time off are imported or brought in via an API?

Every time off request created via an API will trigger eAU retrieval. Importing time off requests will not trigger eAU retrieval.

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