26-year-old employee was told by a boss that he has to have a doctor's note to miss work when he's sick, so he started to get 4 days' rest instead: 'They can give me the 1 or 2 days I ask for, or they can give me the week the doc gives me.'

Author image for María Cetra
María Cetra • Writer
Jul 26, 2026 6:00 PM EDT

You don't believe in your employees. They are going to show you how serious they are.

When you're sick, you're sick. There is not much story. You feel bad, or have something contagious. You either go to the ER if it's something serious or just take a hot bath and go to bed if it's something simpler like the flu. You don't actually need to see the doctor every time you feel bad. Sometimes you are just so stressed that your defenses get lower and you get a fever. Is nothing that a good sleep and some soup aren't going to solve. Going to the doctor is for the more important illnesses, is for when you feel so bad you can't even move or when you have something you don't even know what it is. 


In the story below, the employee doesn't get provided with health insurance, so the fact that they ask him to bring a doctor's note to justify the sick days seems to be more like a way to make him go to work even if he feels bad. That is what an awful boss would do, jeopardizing not only an employee who could end up getting worse from overworking when feeling bad, but also the staff. By not letting the sick employee stay home, the manager is providing a place for his coworkers to also catch what he has. With just two days of being understaff he could avoid having a bigger issue where almost every employee can't do their job properly due to illness.

What this employee did is great. He went to the doctor to get the note, so instead of having the two sick days he originally asked for, he got four days from the doctor. This showed the boss that he could not manipulate him into coming to work when feeling under the weather, but also that it is better to believe him and give him the sick days he asked for instead of asking for the doctor's note that will provide him with extra days that he doesn't necessarily need and just make the company be understaffed for even more days. It's kind of sad that they would do this kind of tactics on employees who do not have access to doctor's appointments. But let's hope that the attitude this employee shows is enough for them to stop requesting it.

 

Advertisement
  • I (26M) don't like calling in to work. I hate passing up money and I usually won't call in unless I'm already pretty sick. I work in the service industry which as many of you know, is absolutely notorious for guilting sick employees (a seriously ill person has made your food at a restaurant before at the direction of their manager, guaranteed) and telling people they don't provide health insurance that they need a doctors note to call in. One year I got sick and didn't
    via yanni_lam4
  • A sick man blowing his nose with a napkin. Representation.
    via Brittany Colette

    A sick man blowing his nose with a napkin.

    Representation.

  • want to work, and my employer forgot I had health insurance through my Dad. I called in asking for one day off because | could hardly breathe or stay awake and I got the "WEIL you Need A docToRs Note Or Its aN uNeXsCuSeD aBsEnCe" and as someone who worked hard as h_l for these people even when I was sick, I was a little offended to basically be called a liar like I needed to prove to them I'd been wearing a mask at work for a reason. But I did have good
    via yanni_lam4
  • insurance through my Dad, so I went to the doctor, had them write me a note for four days off, and went back into my job and handed it to my manager and said "here is my doctors note, and this is the date I will be back". And when they tried to do the same thing a few months later, I got a note for even more days and asked the doc to add a note about when I would stop being infectious around the food we were serving people. I have never been asked for a doctors note
    via yanni_lam4
  • when I am sick again. They know they can give me the one or two days I ask for or they can give me the week the doc gives me. But I will not be working while sick if I do not want to.
    via yanni_lam4
  • A man coughing onto his hand while being roped by a blanket. Representation.
    via Towfiqu barbhuiya

    A man coughing onto his hand while being roped by a blanket.

    Representation.

  • SlowAd2563 I was really hoping that there would be 2 good things to come out of co id... it being socially acceptable to wear masks in public when you have mild symptoms, and people not being expected to work when they feel too sick to do so... Oh well... at least we still have the inflation...
    via yanni_lam4
  • Rachel Silver I had a PCP who shared my attitude about requiring doctors' notes. He'd make them say whatever I wanted. I also liked to say, "I can't get an appointment until tomorrow morning, so I guess I'll be out for two days."
    via yanni_lam4
  • Ultrarandom I completely forgot which sub this was because in my country, if the employer requests a doctors note for 1-2 days sick, they are the ones who have to pay for you to go get it. Also confused me about the "passing up money" because of mandatory sick leave. I really feel sorry for Americans and the dystopia that is normalized over there compared to the rest of the west.
    via yanni_lam4
  • Jay_JWLH I'm more worried about the other workers who can't afford a doctor's visit.
    via yanni_lam4
  • Only One_Kenobi Two takeaways here 1. Assuming this is USA because I doubt there are many other countries where staff are treated this poorly. 2. This is why quarantine laws were necessary during the pan mic.
    via yanni_lam4
  • Layla Walsh007 Same here. My employer got rid off two paid sick days without a doctors cert recently. If I'm paying to see the doctor I'm getting a sick note is at least for a week and enjoy the extra free time.
    via yanni_lam4
  • okcumputer They pull this sh from time to time at my job. We get a fair amount of paid sick leave, but they can request a note. Every single time it happens, that person miraculously needs a week off and it f pretty glorious. s everyone. It's
    via yanni_lam4
  • StinkypieTicklebum My experience is that doctors will become annoyed and give you more time off as a 'finger up' to the teacher or boss.
    via yanni_lam4
  • Fkingcherokee I hurt almost my entire body doing out-of-the-usual work at my job. The next day I was asked to do more out-of-the-usual work and told my boss that I couldn't and had to let my body heal. My boss told me that I needed a doctor's note if I needed to only do the work in my job description. It turns out I had a minor tear in my meniscus and everything else was just rightfully sore from hard work. I
    via yanni_lam4
  • got a note for the rest of the week off, 15 minute breaks every 2 hours on return, and no crouching at all for over a month. That was the day management learned that I'm not bullshitting if I say I can't do something. I also made mention that the doctor I went to deals with workplace injuries a lot, which might be part of why they now trust me to listen to my own body instead of going to a professional.
    via yanni_lam4
  • boRp_abc I used to work at a "you need a doctor's note" place. I'm diabetic, and there are cases when I need to take care of that. I leave sick at 2pm. Doctor is open until 3, so I don't get called up, HAVE to go the next morning. Doctor will always ask "Are you working today? Do you need a not for today as well? Ah, let's make that the whole week!"
    via yanni_lam4
  • Instead of having me not work for 2- 3 hours, you got me not working for a few days. Oh well, some people...
    via yanni_lam4

Want More? Follow Us and Add Us as a Preferred Source on Google.

Tags

sick day malicious compliance doctor bad bosses
Scroll Down For The Next Article