TL; DR — The Most Important Thing in 60 Seconds
A manufacturing industrial company with 200 employees paid over 1.5 million euros annually for sick leave — until it took action. Thanks to the professional implementation of Psychosocial Risk Assessments with mentalport, the company was able to €160,000 Save on continued payment costs. The key: making psychological stress visible, making leadership measurable, making health controllable. This article shows the complete business case — fact-based, comprehensible, convincing.
Despite rising healthcare costs, many companies are still concentrating on production figures, sales pipeline or innovation cycles — while at the same time losing millions due to a factor that barely plays a role in any management meeting: continued payment of wages in the event of illness.
A medium-sized company with around 200 employees and a turnover of 70 million euros was faced with exactly this situation in 2023. The average sick leave rate of 6% resulted in over 1.5 million euros of pure continued payment of wages — annually, on a recurring basis, largely without consideration. A closer look revealed that the majority of the costs were caused by lengthy absences due to mental illness — particularly in key positions.
But this company decided to rethink. Instead of continuing to rely on chance, individual measures or HR initiatives, the legally binding GBU Psyche was upgraded to a strategic organizational diagnosis — digitally, data-based and continuously with mentalport.
What initially appeared to be a legal to-do quickly became an economic lever: In just eight months, the company was able to reduce its continued payment costs by over 11% — while increasing psychological security and employee retention.
“Mental illness is the most expensive reason for loss of work today.”
(DAK Psychreport 2024, IGA Report, IW Cologne)
It is one of the most underestimated cost items in German companies: continued payment of wages in the event of illness, regulated by law. Because it is handled administratively, it appears barely controllable — and that is exactly what makes it dangerous. This is because it is quietly but steadily becoming the biggest uncontrolled liquidity burden in people-intensive industries. And: It is growing.
According to the Institute of German Economics, German companies had to raise around 76.7 billion euros for continued payments of wages in 2023. This represents a doubling compared to 2009. This sum is the result of three factors: firstly, rising average wages, secondly, a consistently high absenteeism rate (most recently around 6%), and thirdly, a change in the spectrum of illnesses with ever higher proportions of mental illnesses — cause which significantly periods of Downtime than somatic diagnoses.
Medium-sized companies that do not have systematic monitoring or early warning systems are particularly affected. In an exemplary case of a manufacturing company with 200 employees and an annual turnover of 70 million euros, continued wage payments in 2023 amounted to over 1.5 million euros — around 2.1% of turnover. This is a hidden, annually recurring burden that does not appear in any sales forecast, investment plan and often not even in controlling. Yet it is real — and is the biggest undetected brake on earnings in many companies.
In addition, continued payment of wages only covers part of the actual default costs. Studies by the IGA (Health and Work Initiative) show that indirect costs — for example due to loss of productivity, coordination costs, replacement procurement or project delays — can amount to two to three times the pure wage costs. Depending on the sector, the total costs of an average case of illness are therefore between 500 and 900 euros per day of absence.
What many are not aware of is that these costs are not fateful. They follow patterns. And where patterns are discernible, management is possible — provided that companies are prepared to see health not just as an HR issue but as an economic management factor. This is exactly where GBU Psyche comes in: For the first time, it provides a valid, continuous database on the internal state of the organization — and thus on what is probably the biggest economic adjustment of the decade: organizational health.
Because illness is no accident. It is an expression of how well or poorly a company deals with stress, uncertainty and change. The good news is that this can be measured — and systematically improved.
If you want to understand why companies pay over 1.5 million euros per year for illness alone, you have to look at the root cause structure. Because it is not primarily acute infections or physical injuries that burden employers financially. They are mental illnesses — and in recent years, they have quietly but measurably become the central challenge for productivity, planning security and corporate culture.
According to the DAK Psychreport 2024, the share of mental health diagnoses among sick days has risen by over 50% in the last ten years. In 2023, they were already in second place among the most common causes of illness in Germany — right behind musculoskeletal disorders and even ahead of respiratory infections. Particularly critical: the average downtime. While classic diagnoses subside after an average of 10 to 15 days, incapacity to work due to mental illness takes over 40 calendar days — i.e. almost a full month of production per case.
This is not only about the length, but also about the type of condition. Psychological stress noticeably often affects key positions, long-standing specialists or management personnel — in other words, precisely those employees whose absence causes the biggest domino effects: late decisions, delayed customer projects, additional stress in the team. The result is a chain reaction that is often transferred to other employees — and thus systemically increases the absenteeism rate in one area.
Particularly relevant: Many of these psychological burdens are not primarily medical but organizational. Studies such as those by Amy Edmondson (Harvard Business School) or Gallup have been showing for years that a lack of psychological security in the team, unclear distribution of roles or dysfunctional leadership significantly increase the risk of burnout, internal dismissal and illness. In other words, the soil for disease is often laid by culture, not by the clinical picture.
And that is precisely why the economic lever is so great. Because what develops out of the organization can also be influenced there. The Introduction of GBU Psyche creates a data-based basis for making these risk factors visible, comparable and controllable — before they become failure costs.
It is also scientifically proven that even the structured implementation of a GBU psyche increases psychological safety by around 10% on average. According to Gallup and Who, this alone reduces the risk of burnout by around 5% — even without subsequent measures. It is the simple effect of visibility, recognition, and structured listening.
At a time when a shortage of skilled workers, transformation pressure and volatile markets are interacting, no company can afford to ignore this influencing factor anymore. Anyone who does not know the mental health of their organization today not only loses productivity — but also strategic control capacity.
The theory is one thing — but what does it all mean in the reality of a medium-sized company that is struggling with increasing absenteeism, staff shortages and growing economic pressure? An anonymized case from a manufacturing company shows how the strategic use of the GBU Psyche with mentalport led to measurable savings and more leadership security within just a few months.
The company: A production plant with around 200 employees and an annual turnover of 70 million euros. The starting position: A constant sick leave rate of around 6% over the years, which corresponded to annual continued payment costs of over 1.5 million euros. Management was aware of the level of costs, but saw no practical way of influencing them — until they decided not only to implement the legally required GBU process, but to use it as an organizational management tool.
The Approach: a digitally supported, anonymized implementation of the GBU Psyche with mental port, which specifically made psychological burdens, organizational disorders and leadership conflicts visible. This was not about medical diagnoses, but about structural indicators: diffusion of responsibility, lack of feedback, conflicting goals between departments.
Reliable results were available within four weeks. The data was prepared, validated and used as a basis for decision-making — not for individual intervention, but to systemically improve transparency, communication and leadership clarity.
Why was the effect felt so quickly? The implementation of the GBU Psyche already had an effect through its methodological approach: On the one hand, it created psychological relief — employees experienced that burdens were taken seriously and professionally assessed. On the other hand, the structured feedback and preparation of the results sent a strong signal: Managers began to deal more consciously with workload, clarity and conflicts. Even this change in attention — combined with a sense of involvement — had a stabilizing effect on the system.
The effect: The implementation of the GBU Psyche led directly to increased psychological safety in the company — proven by employee surveys. Studies such as the Gallup Report 2023 show: Even structured implementation increases psychological safety by around 10% on average. This alone reduces the risk of burnout by around 5% — an effect that was also observable here. However, the actual 11% reduction in sick leave was only achieved through the subsequent implementation of specific health and occupational safety measures based on the results of the GBU psyche. The documented savings in continued payment costs amounted to over 160,000 euros — with the same workforce and stable order situation. Psychological safety increased significantly, as was evident in employee surveys. The documented savings in continued payment costs of over 160,000 euros — with the same workforce and stable order situation.
What this case shows is no exception. It proves that even the structured visualization of psychological stress — regardless of individual measures — has an effect on the organization. It makes clear that the GBU Psyche is not only a regulatory obligation, but is currently the most effective early warning and control system for maintaining performance in SMEs.
There are only a few legally binding measures that can also be a strategic competitive advantage. The risk assessment of psychological stress — GBU Psyche for short — is exactly that. What many companies still regard as a bureaucratic requirement turns out to be one of the most effective management tools for corporate resilience, management culture and economic stability.
The basis is legally clear: According to §5 and §5a of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, employers are obliged to systematically record and assess not only physical but also psychological stress and to derive appropriate measures. But while many treat this as a one-time compliance obligation, practice shows that it is only in continuous, data-based application that the GBU psyche achieves its full economic benefits.
Because what is it at its core? A strategic diagnostic tool. It makes visible what otherwise remains hidden: chronic overload, psychological uncertainty, ambiguity of roles, unspoken conflicts. All of these factors are not abstract HR topics — they actually cause lost days, wage costs, project delays and demotivation. In aggregate form, they determine productivity, customer loyalty and innovative capacity.
This is exactly where GBU Psyche comes in with mentalport: It provides valid, pseudonymized data that not only makes the current situation visible, but also depicts changes over time. This means that leadership becomes measurable. Progress can be controlled. Organizational health is becoming a KPI.
And that KPI is critical. Studies such as the McKinsey Organizational Health Index show that companies with a high level of organizational health are up to three times more successful in achieving financial, operational and cultural goals. They survive crises better, retain talent longer and act faster in times of change. GBU Psyche provides the basis for managing this success factor in a targeted manner — data-based, anonymized, effective.
The decision to implement GBU Psyche professionally is therefore not a question of compliance. It is an investment in competitiveness. Anyone who makes visible today what could be wrong tomorrow gains planning security. Anyone who systematically recognizes burdens before they turn into burnout, termination or friction not only saves money — they gain structure, focus and stability.
The GBU Psyche is the opposite of administrative duty. It is an instrument of modern corporate management — and one of the few levers that are legally binding and economically viable at the same time.
The figures are clear, the practical examples are clear, the study situation is overwhelming: Companies that record psychological stress in a structured manner and react to it in a targeted manner not only save costs — they create the basis for long-term performance. The GBU Psyche is no longer a “nice-to-have” of workplace health promotion, but a business imperative.
In Times of Record Sick Leave, a Shortage of Skilled Workers and Increasing Pressure on Leadership, Tools Are Needed That Provide Guidance. The GBU Psyche does just that: It makes organizations controllable before symptoms escalate. It gives managers the opportunity to make systemic problems visible — and not just to manage individual cases. And it provides a basis for decision-making measures that have an effect.
For medium-sized companies — whether in production, services or administration — it is the easiest way to reduce the economic risk of absenteeism and at the same time gain regulatory certainty. It shows where the organization is already stable — and where it is becoming fragile. And it provides a cultural impulse: Anyone who listens before it is too late is heard before it becomes critical.
The recommendation for action is clear: Companies should not treat the GBU psyche as a minimum legal requirement, but should see it as a central management task. Anyone who digitizes, systematizes and intelligently evaluates them ensures more than just compliance. It invests in liquidity, stability and sustainability.
The best time to start was yesterday. Second best is today.
Read more: How much personnel costs the GBU realistically means in practice.
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Tim Kleber is CEO and co-founder of mentalport. As a mechanical engineer, business psychologist and data scientist, he combines technical precision with psychological expertise. His specialization: psychological risk assessment (GBU Psyche) in accordance with §5 ArbSchG and ISO 45003-compliant implementation in companies. After his own auditor experience in occupational safety, he and the mentalports team developed anonymous infrastructure for mental wellbeing management - today used by over 50 companies to reduce psychologically related downtime and active wellbeing management.
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