‘My union rep will be in touch’: Boss demands employee provide a doctor's note for every sick day but refuses to pay for it, employee gets the demand in writing, then files for grievance 

Author image for Bar Mor Hazut
Bar Mor Hazut • Senior Editor
Nov 4, 2024 1:00 PM EST

The beautiful thing about being an employee is that there is a contract for everything. Once you've gotten through a few places of work, you understand that everything you ever agreed on with your employer should be written down in your contract, that both the employee and the employer sign on.

 Once things are written down and secured, your employers can try as they might, but taking advantage of you should not be possible, and that is one important lesson you can learn from this Reddit story.

The employee here was asked to provide a doctor's note for every sick day they needed to take, in order to get paid for that day. Because of the signed agreement, OP (original poster) had with their boss, they knew that they were only supposed to get a doctor's note after three days of being absent from the job, and not from day one. After several arguments OP had with their boss about it, OP asked the boss to send an email with all of their demands, which OP then forwarded to their union rep as proof of the breach of their agreement. 

Keep scrolling to read the full story.  After that, check out this story of a manager who rescinded a job offer after the candidate couldn't start working the next day.

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  • 01
    "Refusing to pay me is against our agreement"
    via ijeab-stock

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

  • 02
    Sick day
    via JoWhee
  • 03
    Another post reminded me of this gem. My old company manager would always ask for a sick note from your doctor.
    via JoWhee
  • 04
    It's about $50 from my GP. I was at his office when my boss "Mary" called me to make absolutely sure I had a sick note. I had a two company credit cards one for internal use (tools etc.) and one for external use (billed to clients).
    via JoWhee
  • 05
    Neither would work at my doctors office. I called Mary back: Me: my company credit cards aren't working Mary: use your own and file an expense report
    via JoWhee
  • 06
    Me: no I'm not here to lend money to a multi million dollar company. Mary: fine use mine. Medical secretary: we can't take credit cards over the phone.
    via JoWhee
  • 07
    Me: send that by email right away please. Mary: sends it. Me: replies to email I'll need a union day to file a grievance as you refusing to pay me is against
    via JoWhee
  • 08
    our collective agreement. There is NOTHING in our collective agreement stating that I need a note for one day, it's for three consecutive days. I'll also need a second union rep as I can't represent myself.
    via JoWhee
  • 09
    Union days for grievance can't be refused for any reason unless there's a catastrophic event. Mary: (calls me back) fine I'll pay you.
    via JoWhee
  • 10
    Me: no, the violation has already occurred and the grievance demand filed, we are proceeding with this. Mary: but Me: my union rep will be in touch.
    via JoWhee
  • 11
    For 8 hours pay, and want of a sick note Me plus other union rep 4 hours to prepare plus 2 hours travel each. 12 hours unpaid. 4 hours each to present the grievance.
    via JoWhee
  • 12
    Grievance was won at the first stage. So I got paid my 8 hours, but they company had to pay 20 man hours out of pocket (unbillable to client) because Mary was enforcing her own rules outside the collective agreement, as a "management right".
    via JoWhee
  • 13
    I was maliciously complying with our grievance process which I brought up during the presentation. Bonus content: Mary stated that what was written in the collective agreement was open to
    via JoWhee
  • 14
    interpretation and she was correct and I was wrong. I asked her to flip to the last page of the PDF, she did. Me: who had signed the contract? Mary: VP of HR, National Union
    via JoWhee
  • 15
    Rep, VP operations, Matthew, and... YOU the VP of your union accreditation Me: so what you're saying is you, who wasn't at all present during the negotiations knows more
    via JoWhee
  • 16
    about the contract I've negotiated for the last three renewals? Mary: this meeting is over I'll have my answer emailed to you within 7 days.
    via JoWhee
  • 17
    Me: you have 3 business days as per our collective agreement which you know so well, I'd hate to file yet another grievance for non compliance.
    via JoWhee
  • 18
    PN_Guin 1d ago • Collective agreement open to interpretation... that one made me laugh out loud.
    via PN_Guin
  • 19
    jpl77 11h ago • Your company would pay for sick notes? On a company card? Huh, I find that odd for some reason. I guess that's in your collective agreement.
    via jpl77
  • 20
    JoWhee OP • 11h ago If the company wants it they've got to pay for it.
    via JoWhee
  • 21
    I_Know_Stuff • 11h ago • There is NOTHING in our collective agreement stating that I need a note for one day, it's for three consecutive days. Then why were you at the doctor in the first place?
    via I__Know__Stuff
  • 22
    JoWhee OP • 11h ago • For the usual reasons people go to the doctor. So I can sit in a waiting room.
    via JoWhee
  • 23
    Fast Vehicle_1888 • 1d ago • Op, I think I'm in love with you. I worked in HR. Smacking them down with paperwork that proves that you are the one who is in the right is so awesome.
    via Fast_Vehicle_1888
  • 24
    • Lylac Krazy 23h ago • Lylac_Krazy I always loved when management wanted to dig themselves into a hole, they never use a shovel. They always seem to go with the heavy equipment, and forget to hire a qualified operator...
    via Lylac_Krazy
  • 25
    MuadLib 23h ago • And that, kids, is why we need to unionize.
    via MuadLib
  • 26
    Coolbeanschilly • 20h ago. There's something about Mary that makes me want to throw the union book at her.
    via Coolbeanschilly
  • 27
    "Refusing to pay me is against our agreement"
    via ijeab-stock

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Tags

boss workplace-stories employee manager job sick day malicious compliance tales-from-the-workplace malicious-compliance-reddit reddit story workplace sick Reddit company funny
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