‘He got his note’: Employee sprains ankle and requests one day of paid sick leave, boss demands to see a doctor's note and ends up paying a week of leave per doctor's orders

Author image for Lana DeGaetano
Lana DeGaetano • "Show me to me please."
Sep 8, 2024 4:00 PM EDT

In a perfect world, employees would be trusted when they say they're sick and need the day off. This is especially true when you come to work with an injury, which is very visible, and are evidently struggling to complete tasks as a result of it.

Some parts of the world are more lenient in this regard than others. The best way to combat rejected sick leave is to head to the doctor for an official note. The original poster (OP) of this story does exactly that, per his boss's request.

The OP didn't think a doctor's note was necessary, especially given that he was only requesting one day of paid leave because of his severely sprained ankle. He could barely walk, and the ankle was evidently swollen and out of wack. The boss required a doctor's note of him, which might be at the request of HR, so let's not be too quick to judge. The matter is time-sensitive, however, and OP did not want to front the cost of heading to the doctor when they know it's a sprain and are aware of the need to stay off of the foot. Should be easy enough.

Well, the doctor said OP should keep off of their foot for a few days. This resulted in a week's worth of paid leave as opposed to the one day they asked for, all thanks to the boss's trust issues and possibly HR. Scroll to read the entire story, and let us know in the comments if you've dealt with something like this before and ended up on top.

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  • 01
    Cheezburger Image 10399942144
    via Tima Miroshnichenko

    Photo does not depict subject in the story.

  • 02
    Sprained ankle, boss wanted a doctors note to pay one day of sick time now he's paying a week.
    via floatingawaste
  • 03
    I twisted and sprained my ankle Monday morning packing up our camp from Labor Day weekend. Having done this a few times in the past I didn't want to bother to have it checked out (who wants to pay $1,000 for urgent care to tell you to rest and ice it!? Yay
    via floatingawaste
  • 04
    America) so I went to work Tuesday. I got morning stuff done and explained the situation to my boss, told him I'd need to take the day because it was swollen and painful and I needed to rest and be off of it in order for it to heal. He gets in a tizzy because
    via floatingawaste
  • 05
    god forbid anyone needs to miss work for anything at all ever, and snaps at me for not planning to go to the doctor. Wednesday I go in to work, still limping and still wearing improper foot wear (I can only fit the injured foot into a croc without
    via floatingawaste
  • 06
    unbearable pain). The first thing the boss says is "don't you think you should get that checked out? I don't understand why you don't want to just pay for it". I explain again that I've had this injury in the past, it's definitely not broken and honestly not even as swollen as it has been when I've done it
    via floatingawaste
  • 07
    before. I want to be at work to keep up on things and make everyone's job less difficult I would just need to take it easy for a couple days which isn't a
    via floatingawaste
  • 08
    problem considering I can do 90% of the job from my desk and the 10% slack is beyond easy for everyone to pick up (especially
    via floatingawaste
  • 09
    when not being there makes them pick up 100% of it). This gets met with more attitude so I ask if I'll be getting paid sick time for the day I missed yesterday.
    via floatingawaste
  • 10
    He says no, not without a doctors note (you can visibly see the injury clear as day and I'm trying !?). here so
    via floatingawaste
  • 11
    I'm fed up by this point so a little later on I say okay and leave to go to the doctors for the note he wants so badly knowing full well what they'll say to treat it and that I'll need to be off of it for 3-5 days. After and X-ray and getting the "yup it's sprained, keep doing what you've been doing" I let
    via floatingawaste
  • 12
    them know my boss asked for a note for missing a day of work to rest it. Doc asks if I want to be at work to do what I can and stay off of it as best as possible, I said
    via floatingawaste
  • 13
    that's what I've been trying to do so I'm fine with that I do have sick time if it would be more beneficial to be off of it for a couple days. She comes back
    via floatingawaste
  • 14
    with a note that I may return to work on 9/9 which would be Monday. I took a picture and shot it over to boss man, just the photo. He replys "what wrong with ankle" which I met with no response
    via floatingawaste
  • 15
    considering none is needed, he got his note. I just wanted a day of sick time, 8 hours. Now he's paying me 4 days, 32 hours. He can't refuse a second of it.
    via floatingawaste
  • 16
    TL;DR sprained my ankle, tried to work and do what I can. Boss gets snarky because he can't understand a person that makes $600 a week not wanting to pay $1000 to be told something they
    via floatingawaste
  • 17
    already know. He insists on a doctors note to pay one day of sick pay, doctor writes note to take me out of work for the week.
    via floatingawaste
  • 18
    ETA: I have an HSA and I'm on a high deductible health plan by choice, I'm not loosing any "real" money in this situation and it was well worth the price either way.
    via floatingawaste
  • 19
    Familiar-Ostrich... 33m ago My boss would be like, "no note needed, just come and go as you please." Actually the only note we EVER needed was a negative covid test during 2020 prior to the home tests availability. He's all about
    via Familiar-Ostrich537
  • 20
    taking care of ourselves and taking personal responsibility. I love my job.
    via Familiar-Ostrich537
  • 21
    . nygrl811 24m ago My first employer prohibited managers from asking for doctors notes because it could lead to discrimination based on the reason you were out. I went through manager training and had this drilled into my head. So the first time my (idiot of a)
    via nygrl811
  • 22
    manager told me to ask for one from my staff I said no and informed him he should reach out to HR to get up to date on the policy (among others). My last couple of jobs have never even questioned when I've had to call out. I guess we've been lucky!!
    via nygrl811

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