Work demanding Dr's note for 1 day off

SeduLOUs

Undervalued wrote: »

As far as SSP is concerned then I would agree with you.

However, if an employer also offers company sick pay then they can attach whatever terms they like.

It might be unreasonable to drastically change the terms for an existing employee but they can certainly attach strings to any new contract.

The vast majority of company sick pay schemes are "discretionary" so it is getting quite rare to have a hard and fast contractual entitlement in any case.

Not disagreeing with you, but it seems that the employer is enforcing a term on an employee that may be impossible for him to fulfil, even if he wanted to.

I've seen it happen before. Patient goes to practice, asks for sick note and is refused as the appropriate waiting days have not passed, patient complains to Patient Liaison service and creates a whole load more paperwork and hassle for the GP and patient still doesn't have a sick note.

I assume that if OP's friend informs employer that GP refuses to issue a sick note, even privately, that employer will refuse to pay the contractual sick pay. Would be much better all round to just refuse to pay sickness absence directly preceding or following a holiday than to require employees to jump through hoops with a third party fruitlessly. It surprises me that OP's friend has no option to challenge if the contractual term relies on third party co-operation and is out of his control.

Morglin

It is unreasonable, and if he belongs to a union, they should take this up.

If get doesn't, then the doctor cannot really say what was happening to someone 5 days ago (which is why the employer is just being silly).

However, if it's a long standing problem, the GP might, if asked, write to the employer explaining this.

Lin

Tiddlywinks

SeduLOUs wrote: »

I would suggest that insisting on a doctor's note for a single day of absence is unreasonable.

Let's get back to basics.

The employer is asking for a sick note because the absence followed annual leave (as opposed to it just being any old day)... quite a few public sector organisations have this policy. It is intended to discourage people from abusing sick leave in order to extend their holiday.

Why is this policy unreasonable? It should be a very rare occurrence and employees should have already made themselves familiar with company policy... so this request should not have come as a shock.

A simple call to the surgery on the first day would have resulted in written confirmation... This just smacks of making a mountain out of a molehill really.

Tiddlywinks

SeduLOUs wrote: »

I've seen it happen before. Patient goes to practice, asks for sick note and is refused as the appropriate waiting days have not passed,

.......

It surprises me that OP's friend has no option to challenge if the contractual term relies on third party co-operation and is out of his control.

You are confusing two issues. A GP will issue a private medical certificate even on day 1 - I have had one myself very recently.

It is up to the GP as to whether s/he charges.

RichardD1970

SeduLOUs wrote: »

I would suggest that insisting on a doctor's note for a single day of absence is unreasonable.

It is absolutely not the norm to obtain a sick-note for a single day of absence.

Tiddlywinks wrote: »

Let's get back to basics.

The employer is asking for a sick note because the absence followed annual leave (as opposed to it just being any old day)... quite a few public sector organisations have this policy. It is intended to discourage people from abusing sick leave in order to extend their holiday.

Why is this policy unreasonable? It should be a very rare occurrence and employees should have already made themselves familiar with company policy... so this request should not have come as a shock.

A simple call to the surgery on the first day would have resulted in written confirmation... This just smacks of making a mountain out of a molehill really.

Just to add to Tiddlywinks point.

The last few places I have worked for have insisted that any time off immediately preceding or following a holiday period is covered by a sick note regardless of length of absence.

(And yes there was union representation, in fact one was a very large company, employing 1000's of people with nearly 100% union membership)

Not sure about my current employer as i have never had time off sick, yet

lukieboy96

A sick note from doctor for 1 day? Really? When I worked we could self certify for 7 days, no pay for 3 days. Strange

Poppie68

SeduLOUs wrote: »

I worked in a GP practice and am fairly certain that we would not provide a back-dated sick note, private or otherwise, for a bout of illness that has since subsided and has no current symptoms, especially for an illness that only lasted one day.

Back-dated sick notes are generally a no-go, even if there are present symptoms, and the usual only exception to the rule is for patient who are a few days late because they were unable to get an appointment in time.

The employer is being ridiculous. Even with a private fee charge, this is yet another wasted GP appointment when the NHS is already at breaking point. I understand why they are doing it, but perhaps a policy of non-payment of sick pay for single day sickness absence directly before of after annual leave days would have the effect they are looking for without placing yet another unnecessary burden on the NHS.

If I were your friend, I would contact my GP reception to ask the question. There's a good chance they will refuse to issue the back dated note, regardless of whether there is a fee or who pays it. I don't know where this leaves you in regards to the employer, but a straight 'no' from the GP would have to stop the employer insisting on it. There is a possible backfire of this that they refuse to pay sick pay for the day in question, but this depends on how the policy is worded.

Perhaps you could suggest to the employer that they arrange and pay for a private medical examination and report about the ongoing illness (preferably from a non-NHS clinic) if they believe the sickness absence to be dubious.

Private sick notes can be back dated, a Med 3 cannot.

silverwhistle

Undervalued wrote: »

IF he has a disability (for employment law purposes) then that entitles him to reasonable adjustments. However, I not sure insisting on a doctor's note is actually unreasonable so that probably doesn't help. Reasonable adjustments don't generally go anything like as far as many people think. !

Well, I think many of us reading this may disagree - given the medical circumstances of the particular individual concerned.

Tiddlywinks

silverwhistle wrote: »

Well, I think many of us reading this may disagree - given the medical circumstances of the particular individual concerned.

Even people with disabilities - just like the rest of the population - can abuse processes... again, a reminder that this certificate has been asked for because the absence directly butted on to annual leave.

Poppie68

silverwhistle wrote: »

Well, I think many of us reading this may disagree - given the medical circumstances of the particular individual concerned.

I'm disabled and while i was still employed i had to provide a private sick note or a Med 3 if off sick just like any other employee, those were the rules for contractual sick pay as it's paid from day 1 of sickness. I never once thought it was unreasonable as not every illness was connected to my disabilities or health problems.