#WorkFromHome #DoctorNote #Teleworking #MandatoryOfficeDay #NewManager
🏥 I need a doctor’s note to work from home? Guess I’m not working at all 🤷♂️
As an engineer, most of my work is done on my laptop, and teleworking has been the norm for me since the start of the pandemic. However, recently, our new manager implemented a mandatory team day at the office once a week. This change didn’t sit well with me, but I usually complied and went into the office once a week for various reasons. Today, I found myself in a predicament that made me question the entire system.
Coughing since last night, I decided it was best to stay home and not risk getting myself or my colleagues sick. I may have had symptoms, but I felt well enough to work from home. I sent an email to my manager explaining my absence, only to receive a response stating that I needed a doctor’s note to miss the mandatory office day. So, I took the necessary steps and got a doctor’s note, but the whole incident left me wondering about the necessity of this requirement.
In this blog post, I’ll delve into the complexities of needing a doctor’s note to work from home, my experience navigating this situation, and the implications of such policies in the workplace.
## Navigating the Requirement for a Doctor’s Note
When faced with the requirement of presenting a doctor’s note to work from home, it’s essential to understand the implications and the process. Here’s a breakdown of my experience and the steps I took to meet this requirement:
### 1. Understanding the Policy
My manager’s insistence on a doctor’s note for missing a day of telework left me pondering the rationale behind such a policy. In many workplaces, the need for a doctor’s note is often a way to ensure transparency and legitimacy of an employee’s absence. However, in the context of teleworking, where employees are fully capable of performing their duties remotely, this requirement seemed excessive.
### 2. Seeking Medical Attention
In my case, I chose to prioritize my health and the well-being of my colleagues by seeking medical attention when I exhibited symptoms of illness. Visiting the doctor and obtaining a legitimate doctor’s note was essential not only to adhere to the policy but also to ensure that my absence was justified.
### 3. Submitting the Documentation
After obtaining the doctor’s note, I promptly shared it with the HR department, copying my manager. Clear communication and adherence to the protocol were vital in this step to avoid any misunderstandings or ramifications.
## Implications of Requiring a Doctor’s Note for Telework
The incident I experienced raised pertinent questions about the necessity and implications of mandating a doctor’s note for telework. Here are some considerations regarding this requirement:
### 1. Flexibility and Trust
Teleworking offers employees the flexibility to perform their tasks from a location of their choice, often resulting in increased productivity and job satisfaction. However, the insistence on a doctor’s note to work remotely can undermine the trust and autonomy employees deserve in managing their work arrangements.
### 2. Health and Well-being
In the current landscape, where health and safety take precedence, employees should feel empowered to make responsible decisions regarding their well-being without unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles. The requirement for a doctor’s note may deter employees from prioritizing their health and that of their colleagues, as was evident in my situation.
### 3. Productivity and Innovation
Teleworking has proven to be an avenue for enhanced productivity and innovation in various industries. Requiring a doctor’s note for remote work may impede these positive outcomes by creating unnecessary barriers and bureaucracy that hinder the seamless execution of tasks and projects.
In conclusion, the incident I encountered shed light on the complexities and implications of requiring a doctor’s note to work from home. While adhering to workplace policies and procedures is crucial, it’s essential to reevaluate the necessity of such requirements, particularly in the context of remote work arrangements. Prioritizing the well-being and autonomy of employees is paramount in fostering a conducive and supportive work environment.
As for me, I’ve learned the importance of advocating for transparent and flexible telework policies that prioritize both productivity and employee well-being. Thank you for reading about my experience, and I hope this post sparks valuable discussions and considerations in your workplace as well.
How to say Eat shit fuckwit…..without actually saying it….
It is a shallow middle-manager trying to control and intimidate you. Fuck em.
Agreements require both people to say yes. Unless he asked you if you were OK with coming in once a week and you said yes, you don’t have an agreement.
Such a polite way to say
Eat a bag of dicks sir
They got a hard on for us to be in the office. We’re on 2 at home, 3 in office. I barely make it 1-2 a week if that. The commute, migraines, etc. But I can work fine from my house. My manager dont care, Hes a time zone away. But his manager wants to bring the hammer down. So my boss told me start getting some Dr notes so we can spin so I never come in unless something serious down, or prearranged well in advance.
So many of these petty managers love to pull rank. They finally have someone/something to control in their pathetic little lives and they use it to the max.
if you have to provide a dr. note to be off work, you should be actively searching for a new job.
Whenever my MIL encounters a person like your new manager, she sings
“I’ve got a hat, and I’ve got a badge, so I’m in charge”
She doesn’t remember what production this song line came from, just that one line.
It makes me feel better, because I remember that this is all this tiny insecure being, in human shape, can control.
I had a job once that required doctor’s notes from day 1. I’m diabetic, so it did happen that I had to leave early – and needed a note for that.
So usually I’d leave after 2pm (but still early), missed my doc’s opening hours, and then the next day because I had to go to the doc for the darn note. She was usually chill about it “I don’t know, you don’t look so well – maybe better take off the rest of the week!”.
That certainly worked out well for your new manager.
Make sure your new manager’s boss and HR know that you were willing to work from home but the “mangler” said you needed a doctor’s note. So you HAD to go to doctor, and your doctor made you take off. Throw that new manager and his flexing under the bus.
And that’s how the pros do it.
Lol… That is beautiful. Enjoy the well deserved 3 days of rest.
I got sick and my manager said it’s fine, you have enough hours, were gonna see how it is and the very next day she blew up and yelled at me, saying I need a doctors Note blablabla. So I went, got a free week. She had to cancel her vacation to cover my shifts. If she didn’t push me, I probably would’ve went to work the next day. Too bad.
BS power trip by “management “.
Thank your service!
Company brought back mandatory days in the office. Of course at this point team is spread across five states and two time zones, and also Dallas and Austin so may as well count it as six states.
So now we’re in the office doing Teams meetings all day. OK Boomer.
I did the opposite once. Some sort of nasty stomach bug going around the office, and I caught it. Called the boss, and the boss refused to let me call off, no matter what. So I showed up at work, sicker than a dog. Spent a couple of hours running to the bathroom every 15-20 minutes, and sitting next to the boss in our morning meeting. Eventually, the boss gets irritated at how frequently I’m leaving the meeting and demands to know what’s going on. I reply that I’ve caught the nasty stomach bug. The boss turns pale and asks why I didn’t call off. I remind dear boss that I was told I had to be there, no matter what. Boss belatedly decides they can do without me and I go home. Three days later, boss is ‘enjoying’ some time off, too, with the stomach bug. Funny thing, it was never again a problem for me to call off sick.
It’s about power. Nothing else.
If there’s one thing the Pandemic proved, is that majority of Office work can be done remotely from home. My past job that fired me for almost this exact reason did this all the time. I didn’t want to get people sick in the office space, but still felt well enough to work from home. Well if you’re not well enough to come into the office, you’re not well enough to sign in on your Work Laptop.
I got a Dr’s Note to excuse the 3 days I was out sick, to which when I made a call to just do a checkup, the receptionist told me I didn’t have any active Insurance. Turns out, my previous employer tried to cancel my insurance before officially terminating me. Then when I next go into the office, Dr’s Note already being sent off to HR and CC’d to my manager, I’m called in, told I’m being fired for calling out, and that a Dr’s Note doesn’t necessarily cover that, either though their the ones that told me to get Dr’s Notes for those exact situations.
I’ve been unemployed for almost a year now with no luck of getting a new job. I wake up most mornings to see an email notification from a job I applied for, but they always just say “Thanks for applying, and while you have an impressive resume, we went with someone else”. My old job honestly fucked me into unemployment and now I barely have a penny to my name.
I had a similar kind of situation . I had a very physical job and i was struggling to do it I have an autoimmune disease RA which has got to the point where I can’t walk for more than 10 minutes without being in agony. I got myself a WFH job and handed in my notice and was told by my micro managing manager I had to give a month’s notice. I asked if I could use my holidays as notice and was told no I had to work it. I had to then ask my new job to move my start date which they did. My doctor signed me off for the whole month and I got full sick pay and accrued the holiday pay for that month. The micro manager was constantly emailing me and phoning me asking me to use my holidays and I’d be allowed to leave earlier. Nope I stayed till the bitter end. Bet she doesn’t try that shit with anyone else