We get asked this question a lot when there is high absenteeism due to sickness. The answer is you can ask at any time. However, before you ask, you need to be aware of the scenarios of when and how you ask.
- Firstly, check your Sick Leave policy and guidelines. What does it say about asking for medical certificates? Ensure you follow your documented process after three days of sick leave, you can ask for a medical certificate
- You can ask for a medical certificate if you suspect that someone has been ingenuous with sick leave if it is less than three days, but you will need to reimburse them for getting the medical certificate
- Keep an eye on your sick leave balance, run a report and see where the spikes are, i.e., are there trends such as Monday or Fridays as high sick leave days, or is it always the same people.
If you don’t have a sick leave policy and guidelines, please get in touch with us, and we will help you get one in place. When you have to run a process to manage sick leave, having a policy in place helps you through the process a lot easier as your policy clearly outlines how sick leave is managed.