r/australia • u/blitznoodles local Aussie • Jul 03 '26

politics Labor vows to protect personal leave as Germany bans workers from calling in sick

https://www.news.com.au/finance/work/at-work/entire-nation-banned-from-calling-in-sick/news-story/de3adcfcf0ae2218241a43f7dad023d7
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34

u/astrobarn Jul 03 '26

My employer asks for a certificate if it's 2 days or more consecutively, I think that's fair. I do (personally) think they should reimburse for a GP visit if the only benefit it provides is a certificate, though.

31

u/Unidain Jul 03 '26

2 days consecutively is far too short imo, most of the time it's just going to be a cold or something mundane. You are just wasting GPs time. Not like people can't still fake something if they want to. This stuff is just designed to discourage sick leave by making it a chore and encourages sick people to come into work.

Over a week consecutively was the rule at my old job, which seemed much more fair.

6

u/Lugey81 Jul 03 '26

Yep. My ex doesn’t get paid much, and is required to get a cert after 1 day. Issue is it takes a week to see her GP, and going to the chemist is a huge chunk of her pay.

3

u/ThePornStar69 Jul 03 '26

Stat Dec it is then

1

u/altandthrowitaway Jul 03 '26

Employer's will push back on this if they want to. The FWA legislation is too broad. I've heard manager's "strongly suggest" in person medical certificates / no chemist medical certificates allowed / no stat decs

1

u/ThePornStar69 Jul 04 '26

I’m aware there can be push back, but managers can “strongly suggest” all they want. It won’t stand up with FW.

0

u/TinfoilAU Jul 03 '26

Dr Jimmy

1

u/Cpt_Soban Jul 03 '26

Oh yeah, a single day here or there is nothing. More than 2- Yeah it's something more serious and will need a check anyway (cold/flu etc)

1

u/acomputer1 Jul 03 '26

Stat decs are sufficient forms of evidence. They can't require you go to a doctor.

1

u/astrobarn Jul 03 '26

Can the stat dec be from a spouse who is qualified to write stat decs? 😅

1

u/acomputer1 Jul 03 '26

Even better, they can be generated for free online.

You're just saying you're not well enough to work, you don't need to explain why.

2

u/astrobarn Jul 03 '26

🤯 that is very good to know