Economy & LaborOCT 27, 2023

“Tale As Old As Capitalism”: Ill Woman Maliciously Complies After Boss Demands A Doctor's Note

Getting ill is typically an unpleasant enough experience as it is, but sometimes it can be made even worse by one's employer and their policies.

Redditor u/lulugingerspice opened up about falling ill and having to deal with her company’s “doctors note to work from home” rule. It calls for a note from a medic if an employee wants to WFH for more than two days, which is what the OP asked for at the ER. After hearing about it, the doctor not only provided the note, but added a pinch of malicious compliance to it as well.

Falling ill is typically not the most pleasant of experiences, especially when there’s work to be done

Image credits: YuriArcursPeopleimages (not the actual photo)

This redditor didn’t want to risk the health of her co-workers, so she maliciously complied with the company’s WFH rule

Image creidts: Tima Miroshnichenko (not the actual photo)

Image credits: lulugingerspice

Sick leave policies differ with each place but they might be equally necessary

Image credits: Polina Tankilevitch (not the actual photo)

Falling ill is usually accompanied by an array of symptoms that make you seemingly unable to focus on anything else but them; that’s what makes working during such times a task more challenging than usual. And even if some illnesses are not bad enough to make you unable to work, they might be bad enough to be contagious.

That was one of the main reasons the OP didn’t want to come to the office, but her company only allows working from home with a doctor’s note; at least if you want to do it for more than two days. And, as the doctor in her story pointed out, infectious disease typically takes more than a couple of days to vacate the person’s body.

The length of the period one might be contagious differs with each illness—it can span from a couple of days or weeks to a couple of months in some cases. That’s why, in order for ill employees not to spread the far-from-welcome bacteria around the workplace—and, of course, to take time to recover themselves—companies typically establish rules and regulations regarding sick days; some better, some worse.

Country-wise, in Europe, at least, Germany seems to be the place with the most employee-friendly sick leave policies, followed by France and the Netherlands, EuroNews reports. Countries on the other end of the list include Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Hungary and Ireland, where the governments don’t spend as much on sickness and health benefits.

Research suggests that sick leave can have benefits for both the employee and the business

Image credits: Andrea Piacquadio (not the actual photo)

When it comes to the US, there are no federal legal requirements for paid sick leave. But the Center for American Progress revealed that 14 states, Washington, D.C., and numerous cities and counties have state and local laws covering paid sick time. However, it also pointed out that nearly one fourth of the private sector workers, adding up to roughly 28 million people, are unable to take even a single day of paid sick leave.

Some might argue that such leave is bad for business, but it can actually bring certain benefits. Recent research suggested that paid sick leave was associated with favorable business conditions, including an increase in job satisfaction and employee retention, as well as a decline in occupational injury, contagion, or presenteeism—a state when an employee is present at the workplace but experiences a loss of productivity due to injury, illness, or other condition.

Harvard Business Review emphasized that presenteeism might not be apparent, but it can be quite detrimental—not only for the employee who isn’t feeling well, but for the company as well. It pointed out that, based on a yearlong survey of nearly 30,000 adults, presenteeism in the US costs over 150 billion dollars a year.

It’s likely safe to assume that presenteeism is worse than taking a sick day or two as in both cases employees might not be very productive, but with the latter, they can at least focus on getting better. That—and malicious compliance—might be the reason why the doctor made sure the OP had some days off to recover instead of going to work or even working from home.