Sick cert

Blondie 3a

Need advice!
Got a chest infection and got a sick cert which was handed into workplace with return date on it. Employer asked me to go back to my doctor and ask him if I would be still contagious on return date and if so not to return to work till I'm not contagious anymore. Is that legal???

duffman13

Blondie 3a wrote: »

Need advice!
Got a chest infection and got a sick cert which was handed into workplace with return date on it. Employer asked me to go back to my doctor and ask him if I would be still contagious on return date and if so not to return to work till I'm not contagious anymore. Is that legal???

They asked you to go back to the doctor to seek if you'll still be contagious? If you've a cert just hand it in and return when your due back, tell them you phoned the doctor.

You might be fit or not fit to return to work but a doctor is not going to tell you if your still contagious or not for somethjng like a chest infection. Bizarre request from the employer IMO

Tenigate

If you get sick pay I wouldn't worry about it.

But your employer is a jackass. It's unlikely the doc did tests that would say for certain what infection was - they may not even know if it was bacterial or viral. And if the infection already cleared and you don't know what it was, you'd be asking your doc to prove a negative..good luck with that one.

Shelflife

In some cases your employer may need a certificate that you are fit to work.

Having an employee that is capable of working but spreading infection around say vulnerable patients or in a food prep business is clearly unacceptable.

Its not the norm but its not unusual either.

kravmaga

Blondie 3a wrote: »

Need advice!
Got a chest infection and got a sick cert which was handed into workplace with return date on it. Employer asked me to go back to my doctor and ask him if I would be still contagious on return date and if so not to return to work till I'm not contagious anymore. Is that legal???

Absolutely silly request by your employer, refuse this stupid request. Id report this to HR department, ridiculous comment to make.

By any chance do you work for a US multinational??

davo10

Contrary to some of the poor advice given here, yes it is legal for an employer to request your GP to certify you well enough to resume work.

People usually attend GPs in the early stages of illness, and all GPs will estimate the likely duration of the illness and give a cert based on that. This of course poses two problems, firstly the person might recover quicker than expected but cannot return to work without another visit to the GP, therefore wages are consequently down, and secondly, the employee might not have recovered and goes back to work, risking the spread of the virus. Different strains have different virulence and periods of contagiousness, so, the employer, not wanting to risk the bacteria/virus wiping out the office may well request a cert from the OPs GP indicating that the op is fit and able to return to work and doesn't pose a risk to others.

davo10

Tenigate wrote: »

If you get sick pay I wouldn't worry about it.

But your employer is a jackass. It's unlikely the doc did tests that would say for certain what infection was - they may not even know if it was bacterial or viral. And if the infection already cleared and you don't know what it was, you'd be asking your doc to prove a negative..good luck with that one.

Actually this is pretty much all wrong.

Gp clinics tend to see spikes in particular types of infections this time of year, there is a virulent strain of Japanese flu which is widespread at the moment, our health centre is full of cases of it at the moment and the vaccines do not work on it. The symptoms would be different to bacterial infection and of course, viruses do not respond to antibiotics, so the diagnoses is straightforward enough. Doctors often prove a negative, it is an important part of diagnosing and treating disease.

Tenigate

Well i was a bit hasty earlier..
On 2nd thought, it would be normal to have a sick cert issued prior to returning, rather than relying on the original cert which really only has an expected return date.. sure an infection if not properly treated could become worse, so original cert wouldn't be helpful.

Bicycle

What you are looking for is a "Back to Work" Certificate or "Fitness to Work" certificate.

I had to get one when I was returning to work after a suspected shingles infection - thankfully I didn't have it, but I was quite ill with a viral infection for a couple of days.

I work in a large building with several hundred employees, some of whom are vulnerable to infection.

_Brian

I wouldn’t always insist on a return to work cert but sometimes do.
Potentially infectious employee would be one.