Just like they feared working from home until the pandemic hit.
There are for sure people taking a piss with the system, but most people have some pride in their job.
Nothing s gonna change people won’t take more sick days because of that.
I think it could help do away with some unneccessary administration
My god, really. We’re humans, not robots. Employers should rather ask themselves whether their employees are happy at their job. Happy employees usually are honest and don’t abuse sick leave. In fact, most employees have some pride in their job and don’t abuse sick leave.
At the moment the doctor just gives you a note if you say you had to have time off. How is this sheer waste of their time better than trusting your staff?
Isn’t working from home the perfect solution for this? Slight cold symptoms but not bed ridden – just work from the comfort of your home with tea honey and snacks.
Employers fear their own shadow, we don’t all have thé same conscience issues.
Interesting docu on how this system works in the Netherlands.
Maybe if you show some trust towards your employees they wouldn’t be having ‘Monday morning sickness’.
When I’m sick, most of the time I just need some rest and I’ll be fine. Having to go to the doctor every time, and making sure you’re in order with your papers isn’t exactly helpful when you just need some rest.
I’m sure it’ll be pretty easy to recognize when people abuse the system, and the ones who can get away with it, do so already.
I was a bit shocked when I heard there was a debate about that, because we already do that in the company I work for and I thought it was the case for most companies in Belgium. Apparently not.
Employers thinking people will abuse the system really need to trust their employees more. Yeah of course some will abuse it, but most people won’t. It works fine for my company. I’ve never heard of colleagues abusing that system and most of us only take a sick day without sick notes once or twice a year.
Then make the job more pleasant.
Let’s just never forget whose side UNIZO is on anymore?
It’s safe to assume they detest common working class people and they don’t have the best interest of them or even our society at heart.
They are a spokesman for anyone or -thing whe makes money of the labour of somebody else and who, apparantly, does not trust the working class one bit.
(If the above article isn’t convincing enough, just watch the debate in Terzake yesterday, October 5th)
The irony of this is that they are projecting their own lack of conscience onto people that aren’t like them.
Deal with it.
We have in our company; you do not need doctor note for one day sick leave, and I know of one person that abused it, and I also know my manager realised his slacking behind relatively quickly.
Nah. Sure, there will always be the kind of people that take advantage of it, but those were the ones that already went to the doctor and always managed to get at least a week of leave.
Things are good at my work. If they would ban sick notes, starting next week, I wouldn’t suddenly take days, just “because”.
It’s the same thing when they suggested that ambulances should be “free” in the USA. Suddenly there would be people using ambulances as a taxi… Again, sure, you will always find some people doing that…
if you are an employer and fear this, here is a pro tip: make the working enviroment better! I know, I kniw. Doing something for the employee is not in their nature, but ya kniw… try to be a human for once
The compulsory sick notes are retarded.
I have literally taken vacation days on a few days I felt sick, because when I am not feeling well, the last thing I want to do is get dressed and make a trip to my doctor.
And if you are going to force me to get a sick note, I am going to make sure I get a whole week off for my effort, if not more.
If you can trust your employees with multimillion projects, with keys to the store or with a big truck on the road why can’t you then generally trust them when they call sick?
People that abuse this are already ‘cheating’ with ‘sick’ days in the current system.
They fear this because instead of coming to work while being too sick to work full capacity but not being able to get a doc appointment in the 48 hours you have to submit your sick note, they will now probably take a day to rest.
If your job can be done remotely, then allowing WFH could be a solution but it’ll still not churn out the same work efficiency as when the person isn’t sick.
I moved to NL where I do not need a sick note.
Times I abused it in almost 2 years: 0.
Hell, I actually fret more over calling in sick than I did in BE because of years of bosses not even believing you with an actual sick note, of course they won’t believe me now.
Betaal uw volk ne keer fatsoenlijk, dan is er al sowieso minder verzuim
I switched jobs early this year and went from a situation where I needed a doctor’s note if I missed half a day of work to a situation where I don’t need a doctor’s note for the first day.
I feel at my current job there’s less people sick. At my old job, people would often be gone for 3 days up to a week because of illness. In my current job, most people just work at home if they’re not feeling well or just take a sick day and then come back fine afterwards.
At my last job, I would often go to the doctor stating I didn’t feel well, saying I don’t need meds, I just need a note and she would write me the standard 3 day note. Sometimes necessary, sometimes not. But at the same time I wasn’t allowed to come back to work before those 3 days were up, unless I got another doctor’s note. My last boss was very strict on these kind of things, stating that it was necessary because of insurance (he was scared if an employee came to work while officially on a sick note, they would not be insured). Meanwhile, I haven’t used a sick day once at my new job. I get to work at home and take it easy if I’m not feeling well. I’m sure I’ll use a sick day if really necessary but haven’t used it yet.
In case of abuse they can still send a doctor for check ups.
If someone has “morning sickness” they dread going to work and maybe you need to look at your own work envoirment als a boss
Most people could play the abuse system if they wanted to, just tell your doctor you’re feeling under the weather and ask them to give you a note. The only thing the new system will change is people who are actually sick wont have to bother going to the doctor for a note of proof they’re puking their guts out anymore.
Dunno how it is with other people, but if I go in for a note because I’ve been sick over the weekend and I’m not entirely ok, my doctor will write 3 days because according to them I’ve not had a proper weekend, which is important for your health. And honestly if I need a note I’m not gonna argue with that.
If I didn’t need a note I’d probably just call in and we’d see how things go day by day. The problem is that as a consultant there are clients who aren’t so understanding as my boss, so we do the note thing still. But he says it is a stupid administrative burden and that it is annoying because it makes the company seem like it doesn’t trust its people. While we normally get a lot of freedom.
“Monday morning sickness” is just another way of saying “I was so stressed and overworked last week that 2 days of weekend wasn’t enough to recover”. If employers cared about their employees’ mental health and work life balance, this wouldn’t be an issue.
We don’t have sick notes where I work (for single days).
When I don’t feel like a Monday, I work from home.
I’ve never used sick notes as an excuse for not working because I had Monday morning syndrome.
Of course, not everyone will think this way, but maybe it would help if you would actually trust your employees and give them some freedom. Perhaps then they wouldn’t loathe coming to work and prefer staying at home on Monday mornings.
Just my crazy idea.
Sick notes for a few days of illness make zero sense. I was actually sick from friday to tuesday. I could barely function, but still I’d be required to make an appointment, ride to the doctor heavily medicated, pay for the visit, send in the sick note, and then I could crawl back into bed to get the rest I need.
Let me put it this way: I have a desk job that’s 100% possible to do remotely (programmer). If I feel I’m too sick to do even that, I’m definitely too sick to go see a doctor for some bureaucratic bs…
29 comments
Just like they feared working from home until the pandemic hit.
There are for sure people taking a piss with the system, but most people have some pride in their job.
Nothing s gonna change people won’t take more sick days because of that.
I think it could help do away with some unneccessary administration
My god, really. We’re humans, not robots. Employers should rather ask themselves whether their employees are happy at their job. Happy employees usually are honest and don’t abuse sick leave. In fact, most employees have some pride in their job and don’t abuse sick leave.
At the moment the doctor just gives you a note if you say you had to have time off. How is this sheer waste of their time better than trusting your staff?
Isn’t working from home the perfect solution for this? Slight cold symptoms but not bed ridden – just work from the comfort of your home with tea honey and snacks.
Employers fear their own shadow, we don’t all have thé same conscience issues.
Interesting docu on how this system works in the Netherlands.
https://www.bnnvara.nl/zembla/artikelen/de-verzuimpolitie
Maybe if you show some trust towards your employees they wouldn’t be having ‘Monday morning sickness’.
When I’m sick, most of the time I just need some rest and I’ll be fine. Having to go to the doctor every time, and making sure you’re in order with your papers isn’t exactly helpful when you just need some rest.
I’m sure it’ll be pretty easy to recognize when people abuse the system, and the ones who can get away with it, do so already.
I was a bit shocked when I heard there was a debate about that, because we already do that in the company I work for and I thought it was the case for most companies in Belgium. Apparently not.
Employers thinking people will abuse the system really need to trust their employees more. Yeah of course some will abuse it, but most people won’t. It works fine for my company. I’ve never heard of colleagues abusing that system and most of us only take a sick day without sick notes once or twice a year.
Then make the job more pleasant.
Let’s just never forget whose side UNIZO is on anymore?
It’s safe to assume they detest common working class people and they don’t have the best interest of them or even our society at heart.
They are a spokesman for anyone or -thing whe makes money of the labour of somebody else and who, apparantly, does not trust the working class one bit.
(If the above article isn’t convincing enough, just watch the debate in Terzake yesterday, October 5th)
The irony of this is that they are projecting their own lack of conscience onto people that aren’t like them.
Deal with it.
We have in our company; you do not need doctor note for one day sick leave, and I know of one person that abused it, and I also know my manager realised his slacking behind relatively quickly.
Nah. Sure, there will always be the kind of people that take advantage of it, but those were the ones that already went to the doctor and always managed to get at least a week of leave.
Things are good at my work. If they would ban sick notes, starting next week, I wouldn’t suddenly take days, just “because”.
It’s the same thing when they suggested that ambulances should be “free” in the USA. Suddenly there would be people using ambulances as a taxi… Again, sure, you will always find some people doing that…
if you are an employer and fear this, here is a pro tip: make the working enviroment better! I know, I kniw. Doing something for the employee is not in their nature, but ya kniw… try to be a human for once
The compulsory sick notes are retarded.
I have literally taken vacation days on a few days I felt sick, because when I am not feeling well, the last thing I want to do is get dressed and make a trip to my doctor.
And if you are going to force me to get a sick note, I am going to make sure I get a whole week off for my effort, if not more.
If you can trust your employees with multimillion projects, with keys to the store or with a big truck on the road why can’t you then generally trust them when they call sick?
People that abuse this are already ‘cheating’ with ‘sick’ days in the current system.
They fear this because instead of coming to work while being too sick to work full capacity but not being able to get a doc appointment in the 48 hours you have to submit your sick note, they will now probably take a day to rest.
If your job can be done remotely, then allowing WFH could be a solution but it’ll still not churn out the same work efficiency as when the person isn’t sick.
I moved to NL where I do not need a sick note.
Times I abused it in almost 2 years: 0.
Hell, I actually fret more over calling in sick than I did in BE because of years of bosses not even believing you with an actual sick note, of course they won’t believe me now.
Betaal uw volk ne keer fatsoenlijk, dan is er al sowieso minder verzuim
I switched jobs early this year and went from a situation where I needed a doctor’s note if I missed half a day of work to a situation where I don’t need a doctor’s note for the first day.
I feel at my current job there’s less people sick. At my old job, people would often be gone for 3 days up to a week because of illness. In my current job, most people just work at home if they’re not feeling well or just take a sick day and then come back fine afterwards.
At my last job, I would often go to the doctor stating I didn’t feel well, saying I don’t need meds, I just need a note and she would write me the standard 3 day note. Sometimes necessary, sometimes not. But at the same time I wasn’t allowed to come back to work before those 3 days were up, unless I got another doctor’s note. My last boss was very strict on these kind of things, stating that it was necessary because of insurance (he was scared if an employee came to work while officially on a sick note, they would not be insured). Meanwhile, I haven’t used a sick day once at my new job. I get to work at home and take it easy if I’m not feeling well. I’m sure I’ll use a sick day if really necessary but haven’t used it yet.
In case of abuse they can still send a doctor for check ups.
‘Monday sickness’ seems relatively easy identifiable imho.
There will always be people who abuse the system.
If someone has “morning sickness” they dread going to work and maybe you need to look at your own work envoirment als a boss
Most people could play the abuse system if they wanted to, just tell your doctor you’re feeling under the weather and ask them to give you a note. The only thing the new system will change is people who are actually sick wont have to bother going to the doctor for a note of proof they’re puking their guts out anymore.
Dunno how it is with other people, but if I go in for a note because I’ve been sick over the weekend and I’m not entirely ok, my doctor will write 3 days because according to them I’ve not had a proper weekend, which is important for your health. And honestly if I need a note I’m not gonna argue with that.
If I didn’t need a note I’d probably just call in and we’d see how things go day by day. The problem is that as a consultant there are clients who aren’t so understanding as my boss, so we do the note thing still. But he says it is a stupid administrative burden and that it is annoying because it makes the company seem like it doesn’t trust its people. While we normally get a lot of freedom.
“Monday morning sickness” is just another way of saying “I was so stressed and overworked last week that 2 days of weekend wasn’t enough to recover”. If employers cared about their employees’ mental health and work life balance, this wouldn’t be an issue.
We don’t have sick notes where I work (for single days).
When I don’t feel like a Monday, I work from home.
I’ve never used sick notes as an excuse for not working because I had Monday morning syndrome.
Of course, not everyone will think this way, but maybe it would help if you would actually trust your employees and give them some freedom. Perhaps then they wouldn’t loathe coming to work and prefer staying at home on Monday mornings.
Just my crazy idea.
Sick notes for a few days of illness make zero sense. I was actually sick from friday to tuesday. I could barely function, but still I’d be required to make an appointment, ride to the doctor heavily medicated, pay for the visit, send in the sick note, and then I could crawl back into bed to get the rest I need.
Let me put it this way: I have a desk job that’s 100% possible to do remotely (programmer). If I feel I’m too sick to do even that, I’m definitely too sick to go see a doctor for some bureaucratic bs…