'We need a doctor's note': Employee requests 3 days off due to burnout, boss demands a doctor's note, doctor demands a full month off

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Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
May 16, 2025 2:00 PM EDT

When people say to be careful what you wish for, that applies to employers as well. If they want to enforce strict policies, that may backfire fairly quickly.

In this instance, we have an employee who was experiencing severe burnout on the job. After confiding in her manager about the situation, she decided that the best way to go about handling this was to request three sick days right before a long weekend, which would in total give her about a week's rest to recover and reset. These sick days were covered in her employment contract, and yet when she requested to take them off, her boss claimed that they couldn't get someone else to cover one of those days and that she wouldn't be able to take them all off. 

The employee tried to explain that their doctor thinks this break is a good idea, but as soon as she mentioned the word doctor, her boss insisted that she get an official note. That's when some juicy, malicious compliance came to play!

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    Kopfstandnode 800 000 SQ31 Method Re Survey + Read Question Eboration
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    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • By the time the employee was told to go get a doctor's note, her doctor stepped and, without any pressure to do so, insisted that the employee take a full two weeks. Soon thereafter, those two weeks. turned into a full month. If only the employee's boss just approved those initial three days… now, they have to pay for over a month off of work! 

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    I lurk a lot and realized I had my own malicious compliance a few weeks ago. My job is very mentally taxing. I also have my own mental health issues so I try my best to balance, but I just want to help so I get caught up taking more responsibilities than I am actually able to.
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    So a couple of weeks ago I realize my mental health is in steep decline, I was ignoring the signs to push through, but anyone with mental health issues knows that you can only ignore the signs for so long. I try to get ahead of a mental crash and talk to my
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    supervisor to tell them that I need 3 days off (W, T, F) and as I had the weekend off after the days I requested I figured that might be enough to get a good rest and reset. I did tell my supervisor why
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    I needed the days (burnout, mental health) and they said they understood and would get back to me.
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    They contact me back (I say they because right now I technically have 2 supervisors running my division) and say they can probably give me Wed., Thurs., but that they couldn't give me Fri,
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    I ask if we can do Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday instead and I could work the Friday, have my long weekend and that should still be fine. They say they will get back to me, I get a text soon after to ask me to help cover other shifts. And I obviously can't, so I decline.
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    They get back to me the next day. "We can get your shifts covered for Wednesday and Thursday, but not Tuesday and you have to make up the hours"
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    That was the straw. I just broke, I was asking for a break because I was working too much because it was hard for me to say no. I even call them (they had me on speaker) in tears and explain even further why I need the days,
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    I have been going through trauma therapy and my mental health has been declining. I had told them that I had spoken to my doctor and that my doctor said I was showing signs of burnout and recommended some days off
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    (which is true, as I had talked to him the day before). All they heard was doctor and said "we need a doctor's note".
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    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

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    Okay fine, good thing I have another appointment. I had to work that day just defeated because they couldn't find anyone to cover my shifts. I talk to my doctor and he says that he can tell I'm in distress and he puts me on 2 weeks of leave immediately.
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    They did not look pleased when I handed in my doctors note. That was 2 weeks ago, I went back to the doctor and he extended my leave for AT LEAST another month. Cause you know straw broke the camels back and my mental health just went down the drain.
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    Oh also, when I gave them my doctor's note with 4 weeks on it, one of them wouldn't even look at me and the other just said "oh doctor's note, thanks."
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    TLDR: So that's the story of how I asked for 3 days off to try to rest and reset and ended up with at least 6 weeks, with no confirmed return date.
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    Edit 1: holy barnacles this blew up! I thank everyone for all their support! Also for all those asking, no I am not in America. And I was able to apply for sickness benefits.
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    Edit 2: I can't thank everyone enough for the support, it is immensely encouraging! My husband has been reading your lovely comments, I wish I could reply to them all. For everyone having their own struggles and
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    still being so kind, it is very appreciated, and I'm hoping everyone gets what they need to recover/get better!
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workplace-stories employee work stories toxic-workplace job malicious compliance work the doctor PTO overworked-employees Horrible Bosses company workplace malicious compliance toxic-work-environment
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