Getting time off work is often needlessly complicated, so many employers are skeptical of employees when they call out or request sick leave, believing them to be "just faking it" in order to get a day off. This attitude is prevalent within retail and service industry employers, which presents problems since employees are interacting with other people and even handling food. Most commonly, employers will require sick workers to get a sick note from a doctor, even for a simple flu, requiring employees to spend out of pocket for expensive last-minute doctor's appointments to see confused and frustrated general practitioners who are wondering why their time is being wasted with something so trivial. Usually, workers won't even bother and will just give up and go the path of least cost and least resistance: coming into work sick.
This has prompted many jurisdictions to implement laws surrounding how and when an employer can require employees to get a sick note, which should remove the issue of coming into work when you're sick... That is until your employer demands you get a sick note anyway… That's what this worker was facing when their boss demanded that they get a sick note for their absence, with their vitriolic doctor retaliating by signing them off for two entire weeks instead of the few days they originally needed.
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