'I'll get a doctor's note when you pay for doctors': Company changes sick day policy, employee gets shamed for calling in sick, forced to provide 'proof'

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Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Nov 20, 2023 2:00 PM EST

Let's be real here: if your company is not willing to provide health insurance for you, they have no business enforcing a strict sick day policy. Such hypocrisy reveals nothing more than the blatant disregard for the employee's actual humanity, but before we get too serious about this matter, let's also acknowledge how hard it is for companies to enforce certain specific sick day rules and regulations. For instance, if they need you to come in and prove that you are, in fact, unwell as you have been saying, these bosses are then putting themselves at risk. Is that really worth it? What if it's more than just a cough or cold? In 2023, we should all know better by now. 

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    Cheezburger Image 9839293184
    via Kelly Sikkema

  • This thread was posted to Reddit by u/According-Value-6227, whose company used to have an unlimited sick day policy. These rules were subsequently changed when the company was acquired, and now stricter policies were suddenly enforced. The reality is no one should feel the need to prove their illness is real while they are not well enough to even get out of bed, and OP ended up getting cited for not following the policy. Keep scrolling below to see what people had to say and feel free to share suggestions of your own. For more, check out this post about a difficult confrontation with a coworker.

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    I'm tired of being punished for getting sick I've been at my current employer for about 2 years now and about a year ago, we were acquired by a new company. With the old company, you had unlimited sick days and you only needed to prove you were sick if you wanted to get paid for that sick day. With our new company, however, you need to prove sickness if you call off sick.
    via u/According-Value-6227
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    I've been feeling absolutely awful for the past three days so I called off from my shift tomorrow. I can't get a doctors note because I cannot afford health insurance or a trip to a doctor and therefore my impending absence has gotten me a citation due to the possibility that I could be lying about being sick.
    via u/According-Value-6227
  • 04
    I honestly don't understand the logic behind this. Even if I was faking being sick, why would that even matter? If I don't show up, you don't pay me and I let you guys know more than 10 hours in advance so that gives plenty of time to find coverage.
    via u/According-Value-6227
  • 05
    SavageComic 17 hr. ago "i'll get a doctor's note when you pay for doctors" 1.9k ♡ Reply Share
    via u/According-Value-6227
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    Laughing_Shadows37. 17 hr. ago All I'm gonna say is we developed unions and collective bargaining cause angry mobs of abused workers would drag factory owners/managers out of their houses and beat them in the street. This was not seen as an apt solution. On the other hand, now they seem to be pretty anti union, and very insistent that the 2nd amendment be respected. 4 1.1k Reply Share
    via u/According-Value-6227
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    Ok-Figure5775 - 17 hr. ago When a businesses require you to bring in a sick note to call out a day or two they are assuming you are lying about being sick or perhaps worse want you to work sick. Businesses should expect employees to get sick.
    via u/According-Value-6227
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    What blows my mind is a sick employee coming into work costs a company more money than if they have just believed their employee and let them stay home. https://www.shrm.org/R esourcesAnd Tools/hr- topics/benefits/Pages/Ill EffectsofSickEmployees. aspx
    via u/According-Value-6227
  • 09
    Once had an employer that made me get a doctors note to prove I was sick. It cost me around $100 so I made sure to get it for 3 days instead of 1. I would have just taken a day, but requiring proof just made me angry. 545 Reply Share
    via u/According-Value-6227
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    Crasky92 17 hr. ago In first world countries, they have to let you self certify for the first few days. How am I supposed to prove I have a severe migraine? If you have diarrhoea, would a video of you your soul out suffice? 175 Reply Share
    via u/According-Value-6227
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    sarilysims 14 hr. ago . My opinion: if your company requires a doctors note for sick days, then they should be required to pay for that doctors visit.
    via u/According-Value-6227
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    NigilQuid 2 hr. ago You should also be paid for your time going to the doctor, since work is forcing you to do it when you would rather be home while sick
    via u/According-Value-6227
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    Zainda88 16 hr. ago Had a manager that was about me calling out sick when I was pregnant. So, I sent her a picture of my vomit bag (not the contents inside). She shut up. Do something like that.
    via u/According-Value-6227
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    Ok_Butterscotch4763. 15 hr. ago I have told every boss I have ever had that if they want a sick note, they get the bill that comes with it. Somehow, no one has ever needed a sick note, even if it was company policy. Maybe I got lucky, and my managers just weren't Dickson enough to force the issue.
    via u/According-Value-6227
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    myssi24 11 hr. ago A new sick policy was put in place at my last job, one of those lovely every time you call off you get an "occurrence" too many occurrences and you are fired. At the managers discretion if you called off multiple shifts in a row for the same illness it would be only 1 occurrence. But they "graciously" allowed us to work off the occurrences by picking up extra shifts, at a rate of 2 shifts for each occurrence. Which made it so everyone took at least two days if they had to call
    via u/According-Value-6227
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    I made it clear to every manager that I would never work off an occurrence, if I every got to the magic number they were welcome to fire me.
    via u/According-Value-6227
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    lexiskittles1 17 hr. ago It I've been fired for taking too much time off from being sick a lot before. Crazy bc it was a nanny job and the kids got me sick
    via u/According-Value-6227
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    Del1nar 17 hr. ago Walk in sick and yak on your manager's boots then ask if they would like you to go home.
    via u/According-Value-6227
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    Ravensinger777. 14 hr. ago Better yet, if it's food service, yak on a food prep surface in sight of customers. They may have to close the store for the day to get that sanitized and back up to health code.
    via u/According-Value-6227
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    SoBitterAboutButtons - 13 hr. ago This has been my favorite suggestion so far
    via u/According-Value-6227

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