Dodgy Medical Certificates Are Hurting Small Business

Media Release (For immediate release)

Dodgy Medical Certificates Are Hurting Small Business

The general impression is that any employee can get paid time off by claiming to be ill and asking their GP for a medical certificate despite not having any visible symptoms.

The Medical Council of NZ is currently undertaking a review of medical certification. Max Whitehead, CEO of the Small Business voice, says: “At last, we might see sensible information being provided to employers justifying employee absences.”

Employers often know instinctively when an absence is dodgy, but are powerless to contest it when a doctor signs a medical certificate. This means not only does the employer lose a day’s productivity they also have to pay the employee for not working.

Employers are forced by law to pay employees for at least five sick days a year. An employee’s absence can be extremely hard on a small business owner, particularly if the absence was not due to a genuine illness.

Rather than challenging a patient’s honesty, doctors declare them as sick. This means the doctor gains financially and the powerless employer has to lose a day’s work and pay a day’s wages.

To resolve this injustice, medical certificates could:
• identify what work or part work the employee is fit for
• identify if the illness was caused or irritated by work-related factors
• state whether there are other tangible factors, other than the patient’s honesty, to make the diagnoses.

Mr Whitehead says that hopefully the Medical Council of New Zealand’s review will give small business owners a break.

ENDS

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