What period does a doctors note cover?

[Shamrock6699]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Chicago, IL

Hello, I work for a very large fortune 100 company. This has now happened to me twice in the last 6 months. I was sick, I called my doctor, and the first avaliable appointment was the next day. Both times I went to the doctors, was given prescriptions for my health issue, and both times I've gotten a doctors note.


Now my employer did not excuse the first day both times, because that specific date was not on the doctors note (because my doctor couldn't see me that same day). My doctor told me she can not include that date because I wasn't seen that day, but in IL a doctors note should cover a 3 day period.

So now both times I've gotten sick, I've gone to the doctor and got a note, and both times they did not excuse the first day of the absence because I couldn't see my doctor that same day. I'm not rich so I can't afford 400 dollars to go to the emergency room if I get sick because my primary doctor doesn't have an open appoitment. Both times I've been written up, which has negatively effected my metrics ( I work in a call center setting and being unexcused absence puts the entire 8 hour shift as out of schedule adherance. This has effected my numbers, raises, and one more time and I'll be fired.

This seems discrimintory punishing people for being sick (with a doctors note) because I can't afford to go to an emergency room or emergeny clinic. My insurance doesn't cover these type of things and I have to wait until the very first appointment I can see my doctor (which in both cases was next day). Is there any recourse to this?

Also I can't imagine how many people probably got fired over the years for this same policy. I really don't want to have that happen to me, but I can't control my health and I can't control my doctors schedule.

 

[Zigner]

Perfectly legal. Try to find an urgent care clinic.

 

[FlyingRon]

A job is not like you were back in elementary school. A note from your doctor or your mommy doesn't excuse substandard performance.

 

[cbg]

There is nothing in Federal law and nothing in state law, in any state, that says a doctor's note covers three days, or two days, or four days, or any particular number of days. It covers whatever the doctor puts in it.

There might be the occasional exception for FMLA related absences, but even that is going to be situational to a degree.

Are you following the company call in procedures properly?

 

[commentator]

I have said many times here and will say again. A doctor's note is useful to you only if you are fired for absenteeism, you file for unemployment insurance, and on the last absence, the one for which you were terminated, you can produce a doctor's statement that says you were ill, or you had a close family member, like a child, that you are responsible for that was ill, and that was the reason for that particular absence. And that may help you be approved to draw unemployment benefits. Because though you can control many reasons for absences, like cars not starting or alarm clocks not working, or not being in the mood to come to work or having something else to do, you cannot, in the thinking of the unemployment system, control being sick enough to have to go to the doctor.

But it would perfectly legal, if FMLA is not an issue, for the employer to fire you even if you have doctors notes all over the place.

It might also be helpful to have a note if your place of employment does happen to have a policy that they will excuse absences with a doctor's note. They certainly are not required to have this as a policy. They are not legally required to FOLLOW their own policies in every case. And they certainly do not have to have a policy that excuses you for two days with a doctor's note that shows you were treated on absence day two. It may not seem fair to you, but is legal. And it's a little difficult for me to see how this could happen to you more than maybe once. Perhaps you should use a convenient care clinic or find a more cooperative doctor who will write you an excuse beginning on the previous day if you tell them you were sick yesterday also.