When “An Apple Day Doesn’t Keep the Doctor Away” and Sick Leave is Required!

We all know the phrase “An apple day keeps the doctor away”, however on occasion a doctor is in fact required to support employees’ sick leave from work! 

When an employee takes sick leave (a statutory minimum of 10 days), employers have the lawful ability to request proof of the illness/injury that resulted in time away from work.  Employees also have the ability to use their sick leave where it is essential to care for a sick dependent (e.g. a child or elderly parent), and in this instance, the employer can also request proof of that person's illness or injury.  Ordinarily, that proof of absence is obtained as a medical certificate issued by a doctor or other medical specialist.  In the avoidance of doubt – sick leave cannot be taken to care for a pet!

Monitor Use of Sick Leave

While employers need to allow employees who are sick to remain at home to rest and recover, they should also be aware of their ability to question the absence and not just accept the request. While unused sick leave entitlements are not paid out when employees leave, there is a growing trend of employees who view their 10 days paid sick leave entitlement as optional days off, and take them as such.  It is important employers do monitor the use of sick leave taken by employees to check for any abuse of the entitlement, potential medical incapacity concerns and most notably to identify new or emerging Health & Safety risks in the workplace (both physical and mental).

Consecutive Sick Days

Most employers are aware they can request a medical certificate if the employee is absent for fewer than three days, in which case this would be at the employer’s cost.  Most employers are also aware that if an employee is away sick for three or more consecutive days, obtaining a medical certificate would be at the employee’s cost.

Many employers are not aware however, that with sick leave, “consecutive sick days” includes days on which an employee would not normally work and actually includes any scheduled breaks within the three day period.  For example, if an employee who normally works Monday to Friday is away sick on Friday and is still sick on the following Monday, the employer can require proof of sickness because the employee has effectively been away for three consecutive days.

If you ask an employee for a medical certificate (or any other relevant proof of sickness) and they don’t provide it (and have no reasonable excuse for this), employers are not required to pay those days of absence.

Medical Certificate Content

How much detail must be in a medical certificate depends on its purpose – it should only give as much detail as is necessary, and how much detail is necessary will depend on what it is for.  Most notably, a medical certificate for sick leave does not need to say what illness or diagnosis the employee has.  For example, if an employee needs to take a week off work due to a chest infection, the medical certificate only needs to state that the employee is not fit for work for the next 7 days and have this period dated.  

Historically the content of some medical certificates have been questionable and as a result, the Medical Council of New Zealand has recently issued guidelines  click here to read (August 2023) reiterating that all medical certificates are legal documents and any statement a health practitioner certifies must be honest and made in good faith.  The guidelines note that a range of factors beyond the underlying medical condition or injury can influence a doctor’s assessment and they reinforce that doctors need to be aware of these influences, distinguishing between what the patient tells them and their own clinical observations.

In summary, all medical certificates need to:

Be written legibly, minimising the use of medical terms for easy comprehension and include:

• The patient’s name
• Date of examination
• Findings or a statement about the patient’s capacity to work including any duties/ tasks/ limitations, or that the patient is unwell / unfit for work.
• Period of absence
• Period of treatment (if any) or recovery
• Name of the doctor who issued the medical certificate
• Expected review date (if applicable)

Backdating of certificates should have clear dating stating when the employee was seen versus when the sickness occurred.

So in the event an apple day doesn’t keep the doctor away, and your employees do need to take sick leave, remember…. take care of the bruised ones because with a little care, employees aren’t ordinarily bad to the (apple) core!