I intend to use a sickie from work. The only problem is that today, 22nd is my day off and tomorrow 23rd is the day I'm going back to work. I went to the doctor today, he has given me a doctor certificate for one day only, and that's tomorrow. Will that Doctor certificate be acceptable to hand in on Tuesday or does the doctors have to write it on the same day that I'm taking a sickie because my doctor certificate is written on the day before and not on the day.
Taking A Sickie from Work
Lhoneybadger7 on 22/05/2016 - 16:59
Comments
Today I'm sick and went to the doctor and written a doctor certificate to take tmr off. Today was day off.
Tomorrow I'm back at work, but doctor had written me a certificate to take day off.
Tuesday I go back to work.I'm just not sure that my workplace will accept my doctor certificate because I went to the doctor which the doctor wrote me a doctor certificate about my absent that is not on the day of my absent but the day before.
So are you working tomorrow, or not?
This is like a riddle!
Yes I am. But I do have a doctor certificate to take tomorrow off.
Not an issue.
Doctors write notes for periods of time. Eg a day, two days etc. You aren't expected to go to the doctor each day you're not at work. If it says you won't be able to make it to work tomorrow then it will be fine.
Thank you. Most of the time, I have taken sick leave on the day that I am suppose to work and got a doctor certificate on the same day that I take leave. However, since I recently moved to a new suburb, there was a doctor that was open so I thought I'll give it a try in hoping there was something that would make the sick go away faster instead of leaving it for tomorrow and risk spread it to family members.
@honeybadger7:
Definitely the way you should do it. I don't think employers really look at these things too hard but if they did then it would look better as you saw a doctor on a Sunday and not just a last minute sickie. I'd probably try and call it in today if someone is at the workplace or they have an answering machine.
@honeybadger7 "Thank you. Most of the time, I have taken sick leave on the day that I am suppose to work"
You should see a doctor if you take so many sick days
You're fine. Doctors certificates usually say "will be unfit for work from x-date to y-date". The date that the doctors certificate is issued is beside the point, it's the dates the Dr says you'll be unfit for work that need to be covered.
I actually, don't even understand why you'd need a doc cert for only ONE day sick? Usually, you can take up to TWO days before even bothering with a cert. So, basically, the doctor is giving you Monday off as he/she thinks you need another day off from work. They're not going to include Sunday (today) as a counted day since it's your usual day off. And that cert will be fine to hand in on Tuesday as it explains why you were absent from work on Monday.
It really depend on company policy, Some need doc Cert when you are off sick per and post any leave day( Holiday,weekend, PH), some companys is ok to have a day of sick with no cert for up to x days. Some need cert for everything.
It is really up to the company policy that is what you don't understand?
But requiring a cert for a single day is quite unusual, and I think quite unreasonable. Hope the employer pays well for this unreasonableness (hahahaha its always the people paying minimum wage who are the dreadful employers).
In our company it's the manager's freedom to ask certificate for Mondays and Fridays.
Depends. At my large organization you get 4 days of up to 2 days sick leave before a certificate is required. Also if you are sick the day before or after holidays or public holiday certificate is expected.
Under legislation not required to have a doctors certificate for one day off work (regardless of company), however they can ask you to sign a statutory declaration.
And for more info; https://www.fairwork.gov.au/leave/sick-and-carers-leave/paid…
Thank you for point this out, the legislation from Fairtrade:
When evidence has to be given
Employers can ask an employee to give evidence to confirm why they have been away >from work at any time. This includes even if an employee has only been off sick >for 1 day.
An employee who doesn't give their employer evidence when asked may not be >entitled to be paid for their sick or carer’s leave.
A workplace policy or registered agreement can specify when an employee has to >give evidence to their employer and what type of evidence they have to give.
It stated that Employers can ask , even if an employee has only been off sick for 1 day, who doesn't give their employer evidence, may not be entitled to be paid
I am not so sure what does not required mean you are referring to.
@LoveBargain15: All I'm saying is you don't have to get a med cert (though you can if wish) in the sense you have other options, you can simply sign a statutory declaration when you go into work the next day. In a statutory declaration you still have to provide a written account of the events.
Fair enough.
Will you try to fight with your manager/boss regarding what fair work said? It may leave a bad taste in their month even when you mention the work "legislation" and trying to argue from there.
However if you ready to resign and then you could use this to clear off your sick days which it will not get pay out anyway, will this burn off your bridge for you to work again in the same company, it is also questionable.
mine requires a med cert if I'm sick on Monday or Fri or the day after public holiday.
Hey, are you working in my company ?
who knows lol
If you do actually live in the Cayman Islands, every day is a holiday 😁
Not if you were there in 2004.
http://www.caymanprepared.ky/portal/page/portal/hmchome/pres…The damage is still evident in some parts of the island.
Doctor will not backdate.
So what if we are too sick to go out to doctor today, but feel abit better tomorrow therefore able to see doctor but doctor doesn't want to write certificate for yesterday.
So annoyingSome will backdate. They just change the wording from "in my opinion is suffering from…" to "informed me they were suffering from…".
Backdating refers to the date on the header of the certificate, indicating the day it is written. Changing this date is against the law.
it is still legal, however, for a doctor to write a certificate on the 24th indicating that the patient has been unwell and unfit for work on the 22nd-25th etc, as could be ascertained on history.
Oh, and a comment on vernacular.
A 'sickie' is a day you are well enough to work but call in sick to have a day off. A sick day is a day you are genuinely ill.
I agree with this. It's only a sickie if you are faking LOL. If someone said to me "I called in sick" versus "I had a sickie" it has two completely different meanings.
It's often more about the locative…sick = home; sickie = beach! ;)
Don't analyse it too much, chances are your employer won't even read the thing. Three days to a week and they might show a bit more interest in it being above board, but for just one day, they probably don't even require the certificate anyway.
If you give your boss a medical certificate saying you are unfit to work, they are supposed to send you home.
Employer is not qualified to question the Doctors advice that you are not fit for duty.
Employer will get in a heap of trouble if you have an accident working when you have medical advice that you are unfit and have advised them.Take the certificate back to the Doctor and ask them to correct it. As they did see you on the day they can provide a certificate. They're not supposed to backdate a certificate to a day before they saw you.
From what I understand of the post, the doctor has not backdated it but forward dated it to include a date the OP works.
You are quite correct about going to work when the doctor has written a certificate. It has the potential to cause huge problems.
Employer is not qualified to question the Doctors advice that you are not fit for duty.
Being a smartass here, what if you're the doctor's receptionist?
I'd say get a new Doctor if they're questioning there own advice.
Seriously I'd hate that job though. Not enough pay to deal with all the germy, snivelly people in winter. I suppose you'd at least know who in the neighborhood has VD.
Going to the doctor for a one day certificate is unnecessary and inconsiderate.
Doctors are for people who are sick, not those planning their most suitable days off.If your company has a strict absentee policy which requires even one day off due to illness to be corroborated by a certificate then it's not so much the employee's fault.
You miss my point.
He is not sick; he was "planning to take a sickie".
That's not the same thing and he could have gone and obtained a stat dec rather than wasting a doctor's valuable time and making someone who was genuinely sick have to wait even longer.Was the downvote really necessary? I mean, really. For that?
Hm. I will reword Ninjastud "Company policies that require employees to obtain a doctors certificate for one day off are unnecessary and inconsiderate."
And add: Individuals who support this kind of micro-management/treatment of adults like children - probably don't get paid for their overtime.
Join your fecking unions and stop humping the big dog's leg.
I completely agree that having to provide a Dr's. note for one day off, excluding leading up to long weekends, is an absurd waste of everyone's time. No one likes waiting in a Dr's office and I know Drs would rather be treating people with real problems, not just doing annoying paperwork.
There could be other explanations of why OP needs a Dr's note:
• maybe the OP has already used up all their sick days (perhaps unlikely this early in the year, but not impossible)
• OP might be on a kind of 'sick leave probation' for past misuse of their sick days so now all sick days have to be corroborated with a Dr's. note
• OP might not be aware of what a stat. dec. is
• OP has an overly anal retentive HR department & would rather a doctor's note than any hassle he or she'd get from submitting a stat. dec.
• and the one thing everyone is assuming isn't possible: OP might actually be taking a day off for a medical problem! Maybe an old injury or illness is flaring up and they want to take a day off to rest it. Some people with old injuries can tell ahead of time if they are going to pain, stiffness, etc. ahead of time.Moral of the story? Don't jump to conclusions, especially if it is just so you can get up on your high horse.
@Juddy: You've gone on a rant about nothing, it's not even related to what I wrote. I don't care why OP is taking a day off - I care about the continual degradation of workers rights supported by weak individuals unwilling to stand up for their rights - and these people should join unions.
It used to be that an employer had no legal right to demand a doctors certificate for one days absence. Further to this issue: Today people are very quick to jump on the "Medicare is unsustainable" bandwagon, while still stroking their employer's money rod.
Not a rant, pointing out that people on here love to get up on their high horse & criticise without all the fact whenever someone posts a topic asking for advice.
Why you've turned this into a Unionist issue is beyond me. But downvote away. Have fun.
@Juddy: You're going on about a high horse. What, exactly, am I on my high horse about? You're so right; why would I bring up unions in regards to worker's rights/sick leave… attempts to touch fingers to wrist - you're just looking for a fight, fool.
The high horse comment wasn't directed at you, it was at ninjastud who assumed the OP was being inconsiderate for going to the doctor for a note. Sorry for any misunderstanding.
For what it is worth I probably agree with most of what you might say about unions and worker's rights.
@Juddy: I think you replied to my comment, I thought it was directed to me, that is where the confusion came from.
@Juddy: I didn't assume he was being inconsiderate. He IS being inconsiderate. He is planning to take a day off. He is not sick. By going to the doctor he is increasing the burden on an already overloaded system.
@Ninjastud: I think op was sick according to his comments earlier above about not passing the germs to others and hoping to get better quickly… I think he doesn't quite have a grasp on the term sickle which someone else has also explained to op above.
@woolfenstein:
All the awards I saw in the eighties (metal, auto, transport, sales, clerks etc) required a Doctors certificate for any absence besides 2 single days each year that didn't fall before or after a public holiday. These clause had all been in place for a long long time and were only restructed when Workchoices came along which had something similar.You may be right that there is no legal right to demand the medical certificate but back then not complying with award conditions was grounds for immediate dismissal.
So when you say 'used to be', to when are you referring?
@tonka: I do agree and have for a long time that using the GP's to manage employee absences is inappropriate. The problem is there is no great alternative and so many people rort the system. Personally I think the best way is get rid of sick pay and convert it all to annual leave so people taking sickies are ripping themselves off. It may improve attendence but it's a big pill for employers to swallow to begin with.
@tonka: Can you please link me to these awards?
It would have been late 2000's, and definitely, no doctor's certificate was required for absences of one day or less, regardless of what week-day - it was specified that for an absence of not more than one day, an employer could not legally demand a doctor's certificate - company policy does not always match.
Here is a cruddy link of someone talking about what I am: http://www.essentialkids.com.au/forums/index.php?/topic/9222… - I'm off for today!
@woolfenstein: Mate, I can't really link up the whole award system I'm not even sure the original awards are on the net.
What you had was Industry Awards, replaced by Workchoices, replaced by Fairwork with the NES and the Modern Award System. In among this you have EBA's, AWA's, Company Awards, Individual Agreements, Individual Contracts and company policies.This is the current NES followed by Workchoices which are the final word Post and Pre 2009. (You would refer to awards pre approx 2006)
When evidence has to be given
Employers can ask an employee to give evidence to confirm why they have been away from work at any time. This includes even if an employee has only been off sick for 1 day.
An employee who doesn't give their employer evidence when asked may not be entitled to be paid for their sick or carer’s leave.
A workplace policy or registered agreement can specify when an employee has to give evidence to their employer and what type of evidence they have to give.
Example: Workplace policies on sick leave Anna is a full-time employee at a retail store. When she started, her employer gave her a handbook that said if an employee is sick on a Monday, they need to provide evidence that they were sick. Anna was sick with a cold over the weekend and had to take the Monday off. Anna gave her employer a medical certificate when she came back to work on Tuesday in line with the workplace policy. She was paid for her day off.An employer can ask for evidence from an employee to confirm that they were unfit for work. This can help decide if an employee should be paid sick leave or be paid a different type of leave or entitlement.
Types of evidence needed for sick / carer’s leaveMedical certificates or statutory declarations are examples of acceptable forms of evidence. While there are no strict rules on what type of evidence needs to be given, the evidence has to convince a reasonable person that the employee was genuinely entitled to the sick or carer’s leave.
This is the workchoices legislation in place for a few years beforehand.
Personal leave (Division 5)
19
the employer and provide any documentary evidence that the employer may
require, in each case as soon as reasonably practicable. The documentary
evidence may be a medical certificate from any “registered health
practitioner”
This post is un-Australian. Doctors have no place in pulling sickies… Unless it's a mate who writes you a note.
That's incor…. wait a moment. I see what you did there you cheeky bugger.
As the others have said, once you work sees the certificate dated for the day you are at work and handing it in, they are required to send you home.
Go to a diff doc n get another doc certificate for 2d?
Right so let me get this right.
Today you were sick from work
Tomorrow you're back to work
Doc dated the note for tomorrow not today
Can't you just change the doc's 3 to a 2?