Micromanager's micromanaging turns sick employees' 'one day off into 5dayitis' after he requires medical notes for a single sick day

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Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor
Nov 3, 2024 9:00 AM EST

Working when you're sick is a drag, but if you're out of sick days and accrued PTO, what's an employee to do? Well, if you worked for the micromanager in this next story, you could simply follow policy, get a doctor's note, and take a week-long vacation for just a wee sniffle. 

This manager thought that he could curb people's use of their sick days by requiring a doctor's note for even a day off, but when employees complied with his new demands, things got a little thin on the employee schedule. 

It's that time of year again when the weather dips into the cooler zones, the crisp chill whips around your neck, and all it takes is one sneezing toddler at the grocery store to catch a cold that'll have you bedridden all day. If you're lucky, that sick day will fall on a weekday and you'll be able to take a little rest day at home, and if you're even luckier, your manager is the type of tedious micromanager like the guy in this next story who required every sick day to have a doctor's note as proof. 

Except, he didn't take into account that most doctors will prescribe a full week off just for the common cold… Oops! Free vacation!

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  • 01
    "Rather than one day off to relax, people would take a whole week off"
    via Peopleimages.com - YuriArcurs via Canva

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 02
    Every day off must have a medial certificate, no exceptions. S This one comes from my old man's days working at Ford. The usual policy for them and
    via _54Phoenix_
  • 03
    I'm sure for most of you out there, is a single day off does not require a medical note, but multiple days in a row or those before and after a public holiday do. A new manager decided to cut down on those employees who would take a
    via _54Phoenix_
  • 04
    "sickie" every so often, he would put in place the policy that even a single day off sick would require a medical certificate. What happened was people would comply with this request, but now rather than one day off
    via _54Phoenix_
  • 05
    to relax, people would take a whole week off. You see doctors out here are pretty relaxed and just ask you how many days you want off when writing a certificate. We also get 14 days sick leave per year. The new policy turned that one day off into 5dayitis. After a little
    via _54Phoenix_
  • 06
    while of this, the policy was rescinded. Oddly enough this raised it head again at my first workplace. The new manager was happily telling us how every single day off would require a certificate. I pointed out this story from my old man's days at work. His new policy lasted less than 2 hours.
    via _54Phoenix_
  • 07
    rlzack Wow!! A manager that can actually learn from other's mistakes! As a manager myself, I approve.
    via rlzack
  • 08
    capn kwick Up vote for new diagnosis to add to physicians desk reference "Severe case of fivedayitis". Treatment: take the next 5 days off.
    via capn_kwick
  • 09
    IOI-65536 The other things this does that's not obvious as quickly is get people to come into work when they're only a little sick because they don't yet
    via IOI-65536
  • 10
    want to go to the doctor, which then spreads to the entire department, which then leads to downtime.
    via IOI-65536
  • 11
    LadyAlexTheDeviant It's also hard on people with a chronic illness. When it flares, you know what it is, you know that staying home near a toilet or in bed is your best bet to get it over with soonest, and having to actually go produce a certificate saying, "Chronic illness flared again" is actually detrimental and costly.
    via LadyAlexTheDeviant
  • 12
    Lonely Opening3404 Ya. I'm in data science and spend 45 hours a week behind screens at my job. I also get extremely bad migraines, which, unfortunately, don't hit me on a routine schedule.
    via Lonely_Opening3404
  • 13
    No sick time at all in my company... only PTO you need to earn to use. Luckily, my boss lets me go get SPG blocks when I need them... I've used all my PTO this year for migraines, and I'm constantly in the red on PTO
    via Lonely_Opening3404
  • 14
    hours because I can't earn them as fast as I need to spend them. It's so awesome that there are no words to describe it. You could try to describe it using words, but you'd have to invent them, because there aren't any.
    via Lonely_Opening3404
  • 15
    rickbb80 When I was a manager, (retired now thank god), I never asked for a doctor's note. I trusted my people and defended them from the C- suite. Did some of them take advantage, sure, as long as they got the work done, I
    via rickbb80
  • 16
    didn't care. Did I move up in the company, nope, didn't care about that either. I guess I was just a manager in name only. But it was a technical dept. so was a little bullet proof.
    via rickbb80
  • 17
    Kylynara Doctors frequently hate these policies and will fight back by signing people out for a full week or whatever. And especially if it's a cold or flu, a full week of resting at home is healthiest for the patient and, since it keeps them from spreading it, healthiest for the public too.
    via Kylynara
  • 18
    joeytwobastards Same at anywhere that implements the Bradford Factor to manage absence. As soon as the workforce finds out about it, they realise it's based on number of individual absences. Have a day off? Might as well make it two weeks...
    via joeytwobastards
  • 19
    Kit-Kat-22 I did one better for my husband who was working in a mill at the time. Being an office worker, I created a sick note form with the logo and address of my husbands doctor on it. Made it look
    via Kit-Kat-22
  • 20
    professional and all. Then if he needed a day off, I would whip it out and sign the dr's name with my initials next to it to indicate that I was signing for the doctor. This went on for a few years undetected until he found a better job that actually treated their employees like normal adult humans.
    via Kit-Kat-22
  • 21
    FryOneFatManic Doctors in the UK won't bother writing a certificate for less than 7 calendar days. UK law allows for self certification of sickness up to 7 days, so doctors are only writing sick notes for anything over that.
    via FryOneFatManic

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