Current Events > Is it true americans need a dr's note to take sick leave?

(+) Yeah! (+)

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Lmao, why do they treat you like a child

Yeah its messed up, its like getting a permission slip lmao

in Europe if youre sick youre sick, just stay home

Thankfully my job doesn't require it. What's messed up is a lot of companies don't even give out sick days, they want you to use vacation time to use as sick time.

Yeah it's weird. Blue collar jobs they treat you like shit for most part. I moved to a tech job 13 years ago and it's completely different.

I work in manufacturing and no. You don't even need to call and talk directly with someone when you're sick. You just send an email.

many jobs if you cant work a scheduled shift and you cant find coverage the then you are simply fired, doesnt matter the reason

Seriously!!! I actually have fmla and wanted to use it when I got the flu in December so I wouldn't accumulate points or lose pto. I fucked myself over coming back after 3 days. They denied my leave because 1) the flu wasn't related to my other illness, 2) my illness allows me 2 days off at a time, 3 days was one too many, 3) if I wanted short term leave, I would have had to be absent for 4 days, 3 was one too short. All this with a fucking doctor's note.

I've decided to stick to natural remedies vs going to the doctor though. Less expensive.

Lol not every job. Mostly the poor condition minimum wage ones. I can just shoot a text to my VP at any point and say I'm not coming in and she tells me to feel better soon or update her accordingly etc etc.

KStateKing17 posted...

so I wouldn't accumulate points or lose pto

Points lol where are you, Hogwarts? Which house are you in

I just go to work with a flu or cold. If my company didnt want me to get the rest of the plant sick they would make it easier to not come in.

My job only requires a doctor's note if you are out at least three days.

Hey if u dont like it then you can git out

I'm really curious how talking about it would make any sort of difference? Nothing will change.

no wtf

Yeah the argument is that "People fake it" but the reality is they know full well

1. Getting to a doctor takes time and money, especially when you're sick
2. This level of burden to "prove" you can't work creates a stigma about it

The amount of times I've heard people, mainly Karens, go "Well I had a fever and a broken leg and was blind but I STILL Came into work!"

Without realizing doing probably passed on what they had to everyone else.

It's even worse in the UK right now where if you can't afford private care it take over a year to see a doctor on the NHS

Even if not required, it's good to get one because an employer can use enough things already to terminate a worker. Especially in so called "at will" states.

VeggetaX posted...

Thankfully my job doesn't require it. What's messed up is a lot of companies don't even give out sick days, they want you to use vacation time to use as sick time.

Honestly I prefer when sick and vacation time are lumped into just 1 pool. My company had them separate for the first 3 years I was here, then they switched it last year to combine them and also giving us an extra floating holiday. I don't get sick often so it's more vacation time for me.

My job needs it for extended leave. If its just a day or two a text/call is fine.

Called in a total of three days last year?
Fired.

bigtiggie23 posted...

My job only requires a doctor's note if you are out at least three days.

My last job was like this. My current job doesn't require one. We are still small enough that people are mostly trusted.

I don't think I've ever actually needed one, but I've advised to get one in the past "just in case." Personally I think it's stupid to have to drag yourself out of the house and force yourself to be around other people if you've just got a cold or something that you know will be gone in a few days.

Mine requires it, but I get free tele health visits through my insurance, so getting notes is easy for me. During Covid it sucked cause everyone thought it was Covid, just have allergies damn it.

It depends on the company, but a lot of companies are like that.

Jupiter posted...

Honestly I prefer when sick and vacation time are lumped into just 1 pool. My company had them separate for the first 3 years I was here, then they switched it last year to combine them and also giving us an extra floating holiday. I don't get sick often so it's more vacation time for me.

If they gave you the same number of hours yeah that would be inherently better. I accrue more annual leave than sick so if you have the option it's smart to use annual. Plus there's a cap on the number of annual you can hold (240 hours) and no cap on sick.

It's not a issue in my job. And if it was I'd quit.

But any on such a tight margin to maintain profitability that they can't afford any lapse in productivity doesn't deserve to stay in business in my opinion.

lifespeedrunner posted...

in Europe if youre sick youre sick, just stay home

That's not true in every country. Here in Spain you need to get a 'baja' (sick note, basically) from the doctor even to take a day off sick.

However, the reason for that is that all sick days have to be paid at 100% of your usual salary by law and I think in many cases social security will reimburse the employer. Seeing the doctor is also completely free and I think these days getting a baja for a couple of days because you have the shits or something is just done by phone call and the doctor takes your word for it.

There's also none of that bollocks you hear about in the US where employers grill you about taking a sick day or anything like that. If a manager even joked about being displeased at you being off sick here then HR would be all over them. I remember in my company apparently one of the VPs - who is American - joked (genuinely joking) about a guy going on paternity leave for two months saying "man, if we can go without you for that long then I start to wonder if we really need you ha ha ha!". Apparently HR heard about this somehow and made it v v clear to him that even vaguely joking about letting an employee go because they took paternity leave is a big no no.

tl;dr: You do need a doctor's note to go sick here but you have legally guaranteed pay and the culture/legal protections around taking sick leave is far less oppressive than it sounds in the US.

Yeah there's horrible culture around taking sick time in the US. I'm fortunate enough at my current job that if I'm feeling sick I can just work from home, but many people are pressured to show up and risk getting other people sick just so they dont risk their job

American work culture is fucking awful, yeah.

texanfan27 posted...

Mine requires it, but I get free tele health visits through my insurance, so getting notes is easy for me. During Covid it sucked cause everyone thought it was Covid, just have allergies damn it.

That's my thing too. I could call my doc and get a note for anything emailed to me or someone I designate right now (or at least before 4 pm)but not everyone is so fortunate.

It was like that in my warehouse job

Schools require that too for the students after a point

Everyone that works under me just shoots me a text. My only questions are usually if they think it'll be a multi day thing or just a one off. Most of the texts are simply a mental health day and being back in the following day, which is fine. I've structured things very poorly if a couple of people out is going to cripple me. There's like 2 people where if they're out, it's anything more than a slight inconvenience.

Why do Americans only get 4-8 paid sick days a year, 15 work days of unpaid vacation, 15 work days of paid vacations a year?

Beveren_Rabbit posted...

Why do Americans only get 4-8 paid sick days a year, 15 work days of unpaid vacation, 15 work days of paid vacations a year?

Weak unions.

I've only had that in the Air Force where they required you to go to sick call and get treated so you get back to work as soon as possible.

Now I just call in no questions asked, and most of the time my boss doesn't even make sure I take a sick day.

more jobs should be more like Wal-Mart where you have an app where you can simply request time off without ever having to talk to anyone :)

Depends on the job.

My job doesnt give a shit about verifying call-ins. You call in, youre out for the day, no questions asked. Dont even have to elaborate. If youve used up your sick time, you just take an unpaid sick day, no problem.

Exactly how it should be.

Jiek_Fafn posted...

Everyone that works under me just shoots me a text. My only questions are usually if they think it'll be a multi day thing or just a one off. Most of the texts are simply a mental health day and being back in the following day, which is fine. I've structured things very poorly if a couple of people out is going to cripple me. There's like 2 people where if they're out, it's anything more than a slight inconvenience.

Is this one of those fabled decent managers Ive heard of in legends?

I work for the state government and legally they can't even ask for the reason why we're calling out sick. So long as you call and let them know, then you're fine.

But after we're out sick for more than 3 days in a row, the manager, at their discretion, is allowed to request that we bring a doctor's note. Not required if they don't ask for it though.

ThisIsAKnoife posted...

Is this one of those fabled decent managers Ive heard of in legends?

A large portion of my team is seasonal, so it benefits me to find people that benefit from being laid off in the summer and also want to come back so I don't need to retrain replacements. Also, the pay isn't great but I don't have a lot of say in that. It's still very exploitative, but I try to make it worthwhile on their end too

Our hospital's attendance policy recommends asking for a note after three days of call offs. It's at the manager's discretion though. I typically don't ask unless it's an employee that has a pattern. Otherwise, if someone calls off ill it doesn't bother me. I encourage them to take mental health days from time to time as well.

Beveren_Rabbit posted...

more jobs should be more like Wal-Mart where you have an app where you can simply request time off without ever having to talk to anyone :)

HR is an obvious use case for blockchain technology. It will explode the next few years.

Beveren_Rabbit posted...

Why do Americans only get 4-8 paid sick days a year, 15 work days of unpaid vacation, 15 work days of paid vacations a year?

Omg that's horrendous please tell me that isn't true

Weird country.

Like can't you guys just take the odd mental health day? There's no doctors note for "I'm just a bit sad and stressed out and won't be any good in the office, give me a day to sort my life shit out">

lifespeedrunner posted...

Yeah its messed up, its like getting a permission slip lmao

in Europe if youre sick youre sick, just stay home

This. At least if it's only 2-3 days and if it doesn't happen every month or so, it's not an issue. I just call and stay at home. Most pople here are generally motivated to work, so they don't take advantage of it.

Mew posted...

Omg that's horrendous please tell me that isn't true

There's no standardized system for paid time off. So it varies wildly by where you work. Some places have terrible PTO, while others have great PTO.

Like for me, I get 24 days of paid time off per year (will increase to 27 days in another 18 months). And whatever I don't use carries over to the next year. We're soft capped at 80 days though and after that they start forcing us to use time off (they don't want to have to cash out huge amounts of hours if we leave).

You have PTO in fast food places, but most of the time when you call in sick or want a day off you aren't paid for it and most of the time the manager won't pay you back any PTO you have left if you quit.

Because workers are lazy and can't be trusted duh.

I can call off twice in a row without issue but anymore than three and I need a doctor's note... I may also need one to use sick time too...