alt Hacker NewsI was working in a church office when I came down with a runny nose and other cold symptoms.
My supervisor told me I could stay home for a day, but if longer than that, I would require a doctor’s excuse.
Now, that seemed fair from a labor perspective, but it is extremely unfair to someone like me. Because I do not own a vehicle, and seeing a doctor would involve boarding one or more buses and snorking the entire way there and back. Risking infection for everyone around me was exactly what I sought to avoid by staying home.
So what else could I do, but come into work and carry on? It is this sort of unreasonable requirement that fuels “presenteeism”.
Replies
I see this as a dereliction of duty by doctors' associations; they should all have standing policies forbidding the provision of sick notes.
> My supervisor told me I could stay home for a day, but if longer than that, I would require a doctor’s excuse.
You'd think the supervisor would realize it's in their own self-interest for you to not be around spreading infection (to them) by your mere presence.
There are of course people who abuse systems where doctors notes are not needed, and call in and then go have fun. It's not too hard to come across stories of people getting on short/long-term disability by know the correct doctor (I know of a situation where 3 members of the same family went to the same doctor and got a note for some condition).