Medical Certificates and Costs

LegacyUser

Scenario is:

So I have been medically certified with Work Related Stress by my GP

My employers dont provide sick pay, however I have to provide Medical Certificates on a weekly basis to them

I am out with Work Related Stress caused by work

The Question is:

If they are not paying me but are demanding regular medical certs, can I ask my employer to reimburse me the cost of having to regularly visit the doctor to get medical Certs for them, considering that my illness is as a result of my employer?

ElleEm

I very much doubt that you will be able to get work to pay for your doctor's visits to get the certs.

Has your company got a subsidised doctor you can go to?
Can your doctor not switch you onto monthly certs to ease some of the financial burden?

edellc

I was in the same predicament and the answer is no you cant unfortunately.....they only thing you can do is go to your local welfare office and sign on illness benefit and then you can apply for a medical card, however medical cards can take up to a year to get.

When your on illness benefit you also need to go to your doctor to get that form stamped every week too, but after a while they will write to you or you can ring them and ask can you send in a form monthly which they can do, your doctor will have to see you for a while to see how your doing however as you are going back for follow ups each week they should not be charging you the full whack and shame on they if they are, you need to say something

Illness benefit is however not a long term solution, and you need to decide what your going to do, if you are deciding to take the matter further then you need to be aware it is a long drawn out process and proper records of incidents and conversations have been kept by you, if you go to a solicitor that says they wont charge up unless you win be very weary. This is what happened to me and when the court clerk said that I had a very slim chance of winning (didnt keep records as was all over the place, and was there less than 1year) with my solicitor we agreed not to go any further and I got hit with a massive bill which you can imagine as I wasnt working and no income other than IB and that in itself spun me further into a stressful mess.


If you think at some point you are going to go back to work then you need to make contact with the HR dep if they have one and try and sort out some sort of guidelines as to you going back to work.

Also if you do go ahead with a solicitor think about the future do you need this company as a reference,how do your other references hold up as with me this my career was ruined by this company and three years later I still find myself unemployed, so think long and hard about all your options before going ahead with anything, but most importantly get yourself better and take care, peace and love

LegacyUser

Blitzess wrote: »

Scenario is:

So I have been medically certified with Work Related Stress by my GP

My employers dont provide sick pay, however I have to provide Medical Certificates on a weekly basis to them

I am out with Work Related Stress caused by work

The Question is:

If they are not paying me but are demanding regular medical certs, can I ask my employer to reimburse me the cost of having to regularly visit the doctor to get medical Certs for them, considering that my illness is as a result of my employer?

Sorry to hear that you are having problems at work.

Firstly regarding the Medical Certificates for work:

(a) you need a note for work - the doctor can write this for as long as they wish to certify you as unfit for work, they can write it for 3 months if they wish, it's not up to your employer to request a weekly note.

(b) you will also need to social welfare certificate for the Illness Benefit. This has to be given on a weekly basis unless the welfare office tells you different. However you don't need to pay for receipt of this one, the doctor is paid directly from the welfare for issuing this. (I was on leave for 3 years following prolonged bullying in the workplace before I was put onto monthly certificates, so be prepared for the weekly treck to the surgery).

It's important that when you're filling in your claim for illness benefit that you put on the declaration that the condition is related to your workplace, the social welfare may then put pressure on your employer to pay you. It will also be important if you decide to go ahead with a legal case in the future.

Eoin

Sympathy wrote: »

Firstly regarding the Medical Certificates for work:

(a) you need a note for work - the doctor can write this for as long as they wish to certify you as unfit for work, they can write it for 3 months if they wish, it's not up to your employer to request a weekly note.

Surely this can be one of the conditions of their sick leave policy?

LegacyUser

Eoin wrote: »

Surely this can be one of the conditions of their sick leave policy?

No! Your fitness for work is determined by your own doctor. If he certifies you unfit for 3 months then that's his peragotive, all the company can do is challenge it and request a second opinion. This is normally done by requesting you to see a company appointed doctor. This is done at their expense!

LegacyUser

Thanks to everyone for all the replies - some very good info. Personally the sooner the government make companies responsible for paying sickness payments the better. My lot are a right shower....

Eoin

Blitzess wrote: »

Personally the sooner the government make companies responsible for paying sickness payments the better.

That's one of Joan Burton's worst ideas yet.

Kristopherus

Sympathy wrote: »

No! Your fitness for work is determined by your own doctor. If he certifies you unfit for 3 months then that's his peragotive, all the company can do is challenge it and request a second opinion. This is normally done by requesting you to see a company appointed doctor. This is done at their expense!

I'm not sure if that scenario applies anymore. The vast majority of employers will not accept a cert thats for longer than a month, nor do they have to. In the civil & public service this rule has been in place since the early 2000s. And most private sector employers have followed suit. The only exceptions are for terminal illness or serious accident. And I would'nt wish that on anyone.

gozunda

Eoin wrote: »

That's one of Joan Burton's worst ideas yet.

Why is that then?

Irish_Elect_Eng

Blitzess wrote: »

Thanks to everyone for all the replies - some very good info. Personally the sooner the government make companies responsible for paying sickness payments the better. My lot are a right shower....

This is highly unlikely to happen.

It is far more likely that we will move the the US model where most companies offer no sick pay. This makes logical sense from a HR point of view in that is encourages employees not to throw a sickie.

Offering sick pay is often seen as a significant employment benefit from companies in the USA, not just an entitlement like here in Ireland.

gozunda

Irish_Elect_Eng wrote: »

This is highly unlikely to happen.

It is far more likely that we will move the the US model where most companies offer no sick pay. This makes logical sense from a HR point of view in that is encourages employees not to throw a sickie.
Offering sick pay is often seen as a significant employment benefit from companies in the USA, not just an entitlement like here in Ireland.

In Ireland companies can and do pass on the responsibility of sick pay to other tax payers - hardly a fair proportioning imo.

It maybe logical from a 'HR point of view' but considering that 'HR' are predisposed towards the companies interest it is hardly an equitable model

'Throwing a sickie' is not always a matter of encouagement or discouragement - people do get sick and where employees genuinely cannot attend work it is fair that companies take resonsibility for workers that give their loyalty towards that company - it works both ways...

For the OP where the company has been implicated with the injury the fact that the company is not giving sick pay is adding insult to injury

Mrs OBumble

Irish_Elect_Eng wrote: »

...not just an entitlement like here in Ireland.

Outside the public sector, I haven't noticed paid sick leave as common here.

TBH, I don't see having the taxpayer pay it as a major problem - because actually, it's PRSI contributions rather than general taxation that pay it. Not enough stamps = no benefit, AFAIK.

Whereas if employers have to pay it, then it's not such an issue for a large company - but a small one could be forced into bankruptcy if one or two people get sick.

An arrangement where companies pay the first few days and welfare pays the rest is the most sensible IMHO: local management have an incentive to cut down absenteeism, but aren't overburdened when someone has a heart attach or gets cancer.