Comparative law notes
This English term is just as vague and indefinite as its German counterpart, "Arbeitsunfaehigkeit". In the United States, the term connotes a more serious and long-lasting handicap. Since the German concept often applies to less permanent situation - the employee is rendered unable to work for a certain period of time - we would suggest caution when using disability as a translation for Arbeitsunfaehigkeit. Both terms convey the notion of incapacity, but the scale of that incapacity and the effects of being classified as one or the other can be quite different.