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Prerequisites

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Availability

The Kombo DATEV eAU endpoints are available for the following integrations: DATEV HR, DATEV LUG (legacy), and DATEV LODAS (legacy). Learn more about the DATEV variants here. We only offer the DATEV integration to customers subscribed to our DATEV package.

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Permissions

To use the eAU endpoints, you must have the Manage eAU permission enabled in your scope config. You can allow your customers to opt-out of the eAU process by setting the permission to optional. In this scenario, you must verify whether the permission is granted by using our Verify eAU Permission endpoint. The corresponding service within DATEV is called DATEV Lohnaustauschdatenservice.

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eAU Workflow

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Creating an eAU Request

To verify an employee’s sick leave, you must initiate an eAU request. This request triggers a process within the employee’s health insurance to confirm whether a sick leave was officially reported by a doctor. Before requesting an eAU certificate, the following legal preconditions must be met:
  • The employee must have been employed at the time of the sick leave.
  • The employee must have public health insurance at the time of the AU.
  • The employee must provide a start date and a preliminary duration for the AU.

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Timing of the Initial eAU Request

The provided start_date can be any day within the reported AU period. The health insurance will return the eAU certificate if the provided start_date is between the AU’s start and end date. Legally, employees must issue an eAU from their doctor by the fourth working day of their sick leave. However, employers can choose to shorten this period. If the sick leave lasts fewer than four days, an eAU certificate is not legally required. You can request an eAU certificate up to four years retrospectively, but not before October 1, 2021. Doctors may issue eAU certificates up to three days retroactively.

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Making the Request

To create an eAU request, call our Create eAU Request endpoint with the following details:
  • The DATEV employee number (retrievable via the Lohnergebnisdatenservice).
  • The start date of the AU.
A successful eAU request creation returns an eau_id, which you will use to query the request’s status.

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Querying the Status of the eAU Request

Once created, the health insurance processes the eAU request and provides feedback within approximately 14 days. Use the Get eAU Request Status endpoint with your received eau_id to check the request status. Note: DATEV APIs must be used efficiently. No webhook or notification mechanisms exist for status changes. Therefore, you must periodically poll the status. Avoid polling more than twice daily.

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Example Response

When you fetch the status we will return an object like this: 
{
  "status": "success",
  "data": {
    "rawResponse": {
      "source": "LuG",
      "start_work_incapacity": "2024-04-18",
      "feedbacks_from_health_insurance": [
        {
          "guid": "22506bf2-7cf4-4e40-aadf-1a242920cfef",
          "contact_person": {
            "gender_contact_person": "M",
            "name": "Barmer Muster Friedrich",
            "telephone": "+49 201 1234-0",
            "fax": "+49 201 1234-1",
            "email": "friedrich.barmermuster@barmer.de",
            "name1_health_insurance": "Krankengeld-Zentrum Regensburg",
            "name2_health_insurance": null,
            "name3_health_insurance": null,
            "postal_code": "93059",
            "city": "Regensburg",
            "street": "Im Gewerbepark D 55",
            "house_number": "12345"
          },
          "incapacity_for_work": {
            "start_work_incapacity_employer": "2024-04-18",
            "start_work_incapacity_au": null,
            "end_work_incapacity_au": null,
            "date_of_diagnosis": null,
            "flag_current_work_incapacity": 1,
            "accident_at_work": false,
            "assignment_accident_insurance_doctor": false,
            "other_accident": false,
            "start_hospitalisation": null,
            "end_hospitalisation": null,
            "initial_certificate": false,
            "automatic_feedback_until": null
          },
          "error_block_list": [
            {
              "error_value": null,
              "error_text": null,
              "origin": "INTERN",
              "error_number": "DAPC050"
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

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Parsing the Response

Initially, while the health insurance is processing the request, the feedbacks_from_health_insurance array in the response is empty. You can consider the request as pending. Once the health insurance has processed the request, the feedbacks_from_health_insurance array will contain one or multiple feedbacks. If any errors occurred, they will be listed under the error_block_list array. Some feedback states are not final and can change over time. The response will include an automatic_feedback_until date, indicating until when further polling may lead to updates.

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Validating the eAU

A feedback from the health insurance does not automatically mean that the eAU is valid. You need to validate the eAU by examining the flag_current_work_incapacity, which can have these values: Flag 1: Health Insurance Not Responsible
  • The provided insurance is incorrect. Request updated insurance information from the employee and inform the tax consultant to update DATEV.
Flag 2: Incapacity for Work
  • The eAU is valid if absence dates match.
Flag 3: Hospitalization | Flag 6: Partial Inpatient Treatment
  • The end date may initially be missing and only provided upon patient discharge. Keep polling until the end date appears.
  • The eAU is valid if absence dates match.
Flag 4: eAU or Hospitalization Report Not Found
  • eAU not yet available. Continue polling status updates for 14 days. After this period, submit a new request if necessary.
Flag 5: Rehabilitation or Prevention
  • The eAU is valid if absence dates match.
Flag 7: Under Verification
  • Health insurance is manually verifying incorrect or disputed information. Continue polling for updates for up to 28 days, after which submit a new request if needed.
Flag 8: Other Evidence Available
  • Evidence from private or foreign doctors. Poll status updates for 14 days; afterward, submit a new request if necessary.
Flag 9: Forwarding Procedure
  • The employee is changing health insurers. Continue polling for updates within 28 days.

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Follow-up certificate

If the employee has a sick leave that is longer than what was returned in the initial eAU request its possible that the doctor has issued a follow-up certificate. In this case you will need to create a new eAU request with the new start date (end date of the eAU plus 1 day).