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Knowledge is Power! Know Your Contract!
Article 18.08
Certification of Illness
Employees who are absent due to
illness shall be required to certify to the days absent and
nature of such illness on the specified form “Employee’s
Certification for Payment.” (FMLA
forms) When it is impractical for the absent employee
to execute the specified form, the certification and
approval of the form may be made by the immediate supervisor
of the employee provided that the supervisor has a definite
assurance that the absence of the employee is due to
illness. (Ex: If you were
hospitalized and could not call in and a family member
called for you to assure that you were ill, your manager can
take care of everything for you.) This assurance may
be obtained through communication with the employee’s home
or through personal knowledge of the case.
(This can simply be a phone
conversation, or it could be a home visit.)
Whenever the Company requires an
employee to submit proof of illness in order to be paid for
an incidental absence due to personal illness, the Company
will reimburse the employee at departmental expense for any
payment the employee is required to make to a doctor in
connection with securing a note after the supervisor’s
request. Proof of illness, in the form of a doctor’s note
or other documentation, may be required at the supervisor’s
discretion in particular absence situations where, for
example, poor attendance patterns are evident, or
circumstances raise questions that the absence may not be
caused by an illness.
The Company
can withhold pay if they request a doctor’s note and you
fail to provide one. If you have to make a payment to the
doctor to obtain the note, the company must reimburse that
expense to you.
Doctor’s notes
should only be asked for if there is evidence of poor
attendance patterns. If you have not been out for a year
there is NO REASON for the Company to ask for a note.
The note you
obtain should NOT reveal any medical information. Any
medical information revealed by the doctor belongs on your
FMLA paperwork.
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