How Should I Handle an Employee's Sick Leave Without a Doctor's Note? Seeking Advice on Policy Flexibility

Dear Friends,

Please help me make a genuine decision. Our company allows one sick leave and one casual leave per month. One of our employees took two days off due to illness and fever. He did not consult a doctor for his illness. According to our leave policy, I can only approve the leave if he submits a medical document; otherwise, it will be considered a casual leave.

In this scenario, based on our company's leave policy, he will not receive approval for his leave unless he provides a medical document. Consequently, he will lose two days' worth of salary. Please advise me on how to proceed with this situation. Is there an option to convert one sick leave to a casual leave?

I await your comments. Thank you.

Soju

Dear Soju,

I can't believe what you say... Actually, a medical certificate has to be submitted only if an employee avails leave for more than 3 continuous working days. For one or two days, no company will ask for a medical certificate. What if an employee availed one day leave for a headache, stomach ache, body pains, vomiting, sunstroke, etc.? Should they submit a medical certificate? No way. As an HR professional, I would request you to change the policy first.

In your company, employee leave is not calculated on an annual basis; rather, it's calculated on a monthly basis, i.e., 1 CL and 1 SL. So, format the policy in such a way that you don't place yourself in critical situations by making weird decisions. I would suggest you allocate leave on an annual basis rather than monthly. This way, you will reduce more headaches as well as reduce the number of leaves (instead of giving 12 CL, 12 SL, you can make it 8 CL, 8 SL, and 8 PL). If you want, I can help you out. Please let me know.

Leave in a company is given as a perk to the employee. Leave adjustment can be done anytime, anywhere depending on the situation, and this initiative should be taken by HR. HR cannot be strict all the time like a teacher. HR should understand the situation and respond accordingly, sometimes in favor of the employee and sometimes in favor of management.

HR is responsible for employee welfare and should do that in a proper manner. Ask that employee to apply for one day of casual leave and another day as sick leave (don't deduct his salary). Talk to your management and change the policy for a healthy environment.

RJ getting an MC is very easy. Just pay Rs. 50 or 100 to any doctor, and you will get it. The issue here is the policy. Why should the employee get an MC paying Rs. 100 for availing just 1 day SL for the reason headache (Just an example - headache)? His tablet would have costed Rs. 1, but MC costs Rs. 100. Ridiculous.

Rs. 100 may be a small amount to us, but there are employees for whom this Rs. 100 means a lot. Let me give you an example of an incident that moved me a lot.

My friend works as an HR in a small company that has just 20 employees. On July 1st, it was their MD's birthday, so everyone had to contribute Rs. 100 to purchase a gift for him (This was an order from the 2 TL's). Everyone contributed, but because of this Rs. 100 forced contribution, one guy from that company had to walk 3 km in the morning and 3 km in the evening because he had given away his full month bus fare to purchase the MD's gift.

A guy named XXX (didn't want to mention his name) was getting Rs. 7000 as salary, but he has too many family commitments. For him, every rupee counts. He has to send Rs. 5000 every month to his home to pay the debts. He is residing in his sister's home - 3 km from his office. He has to pay Rs. 1500 to his sister for food and stay. So, Rs. 500 is all that is left for his expenses, wherein monthly, once he goes to his native to see his mom (Dad expired when he was 4 years old), so bus fare (To and fro) costs Rs. 180. The balance amount is Rs. 320. He has to run the entire month with that money.

Think over how difficult it is. What do you say, brother? 😞😞😞

Thank you, Malini, for your genuine thoughts. I share the same sentiments. I am attaching our company's leave policy herewith. If you have time, please review it as it is already in force.

An employee can take medical leave according to their health condition. Our company provides 12 medical leaves per annum, which translates to one per month. Casual leaves amount to 10 per year, averaging approximately one per month.

Thank you,
Soju

Dear Malini,

What do you think of our leave policy? Please take a look when you have enough time.

Soju

Please find below one reply I received from Neha Khale:

Dear Sojuloyola,

We do have the same policies as you. It is quite understandable on the person's level that he might be sick and isn't able to provide any medical document from the doctor. Ask him to submit any medical prescription or a bill which states that he has taken some medicine for his illness. Nowadays, it is too obvious that people take sick leave as they need to apply for any other kind of leaves. Ask him to submit any proof of his illness as it needs to be as per the company policy. Then, that is his job how to produce it. You need to stick to what the norms of your organization have.

Hope I have added some value to your question.

Regards,
Neha Khale

Soju, I will get back to you on the policy by the end of the day.

By the way, I agree with Neha's thoughts and views that we need to stick to what the norms of your organization are, but HR is the one who formulates all these. So please formulate it in such a way that neither the management nor the employees should feel dissatisfied.

For any IT company, no HR or management will implement norms like these. If an employee has taken leave for a headache, how can an employee submit a medical prescription or bill for the tablet that costs 50 paise or 1 Rupee? Please think. Can you submit? As an HR professional, the first thing we should keep in mind is that while formulating a policy, we should make sure that it is not complicated, where we stand dumb in front of employees when they ask such sort of questions.

Policies should always be clear. I don't know whether the employees in your company come back with such kind of questions. Usually, no employee agrees to such policies.

Soju, one thing that I couldn't understand is that when leaves are meant annually, then why did you again split it into monthly? Once you say that there are 12 CL and 12 SL for an employee for one calendar year, then that's over. Why do you split that and say that you cannot take more than 1 CL and 1 SL per month, and if you don't avail that leave, it's gone? So, you force them to take 2 leaves per month. Why is it so?

Actually, when leaves are allocated for a particular employee, then it's between the employee and their reporting head to decide whether their team member can avail so many leaves or not because the TL alone knows what work has been allocated to that employee, can they allow him on leave or not, etc. If leave is approved, HR will mark it as leave. If it's sick leave, HR marks leave and asks him to submit a medical certificate if exceeded more than 3 continuous working days. If all the leaves of that particular employee have been exhausted and if still the TL approves the leave, then mark it as LOP. It's so simple, then why do you wish to complicate it? Quarterly, HR has to send the leave details (i.e., leave availed by a particular employee) to the TL, which includes the number of leaves taken by their team members - monthly leave details.

Never give room for questions or complications. Leaves are meant annually, not monthly. Monthly leave calculation is done for employees on contract or consultants. Yearly leave allocation is done for permanent employees. These are certain rules and regulations that need to be followed before allocating leave for an employee.

Let me know if you have any more doubts.

Hi Malini,

I am an HR student. I would like to know the basis for the calculation of leaves. How does the operation come into the picture here?

Hi Malini,

I am an HR student. I would like to know the basis for the calculation of leaves. How do the operations come into the picture here?

Dear Malini,

Hi!! Great info, especially the leave policy has been formulated very clearly and genuinely. But still I have a query here...human mind you see!! If all the leave of a particular employee has been exhausted and if still the TL approves the leave, it should be marked as LOP. Can't the approval and the MC be considered for his pay and not LOP?? A person earning, say, Rs. 5000/- per month and going on a sick leave due to malaria for a month, after all his treatment might be left with just a meagre amount in hand. How do you suggest...especially "to pay or not to pay"?

Eagerly waiting for a response.

Regards,
Pal

Very well said, Malini. I am really impressed with your thorough understanding of employee benefits and organizational policies. When it comes to leave policies, it is the HR who is solely responsible for formulating and implementing them. If they cannot persuade management to change strict policies that do not benefit employees, then what is the purpose of having such a passive person in the HR role? Policies should provide benefits to both management and employees; they are perks for the employee's benefit. There are no strict rules for formulating leave policies; it varies from organization to organization.

I have not come across any ridiculous rule of requiring medical certificates for a single day of sick leave. If such a policy exists in any organization, I would suggest HR professionals speak to management and persuade them to revise such policies for the employees' benefit. Management gains nothing from a one-day medical certificate; it is merely a piece of paper. Requiring such certificates can encourage employees to provide fake proof, damaging trust within the organization.

It is common to experience minor health issues like backaches, headaches, or mild fevers that resolve with rest. Not every health problem requires a medical certificate, as many people have home remedies or just need time to heal. Companies demanding certificates for minor issues may not understand the rationale behind policy formulation and blindly imitate others without considering the circumstances.

Dear RJ, you may be fortunate to have a doctor who provides free certificates, but I do not support the idea of employees submitting fake documents for leave approval. Not everyone has the privilege of having contacts for free medical certificates.

Reconsidering Policy-Making

It is crucial to reconsider policy-making, as highlighted by Malini's example. It is concerning to have individuals in HR positions who do not prioritize the well-being of the organization's most valuable assets - its employees.

Regards.