Am I wrong to think this is unfair?

So I've been sick since Thursday night last week. I forced myself to work on Friday since my sickness wasn't so bad. Over the weekend it got much worse (I had the weekend off to rest, though). Monday (yesterday), I felt a bit better, but still sick - my throat was in a lot of pain but I wasn't as congested. I forced myself to work because my friend was already going to call in sick and I didn't want the team at work to be short 2 people. I got much much worse throughout my shift though, because I had to constantly use my voice which put a strain on my throat. I also had to move around a lot which made my stuffy nose come back for some reason and I was sweating like crazy and feeling really uncomfortable and sick. So I decided I will call in sick today and actually rest so that I'm not required to strain my throat by talking a lot. I was told I needed a doctor's note.. Now I think it's unfair since my clinic requires me to pay $25 for a doctor's note. And walk in clinics have insane wait times. The whole reason I asked to stay home is so I could rest and sleep it off, not so I could take a bus to a clinic, wait 2 hours for a doctor to confirm that yes I'm sick, and then cough up $25 for a bit of scribble on a paper. My shift at work is usually under 4 hours. I get paid below the regular minimum wage because I am a server. I would have probably made $35 today if I went to work. It's a crazy amount of money to ask me to pay for ONE sick day for a shift under 4 hours..

First of all, who goes to the doctor for a cold and cough? You're supposed to just rest and drink lots of fluids. Second, my friend who called in sick yesterday wasn't asked to bring one, so how is that fair? Third, I feel that if they expect me to get a doctor's note, they should cover the absurd fee that comes with it. It's almost my entire shift's wages for goodness sake! I feel as though making us pay this huge fee for a bit of scribble discourages us from calling in sick when that shouldn't be the case. We work with FOOD. We don't even get paid for sick days so why are they so suspicious about us being sick. There's absolutely nothing good that we get out of it. I'm already having to miss out of today's wages and then PAY for it on top of that. I understand if I was asking for a few days off or if I've been calling in sick a lot. But this is my first time. I hate wasting money and this is what's making me the most upset is that I am being forced to waste money, and feeling stressed about it, rather than just doing what I was planning on doing today - which is rest.

Am I crazy?

ive never heard of paying money to get a doctors note... that don't sound too fair to me, and it don't make much sense to charge someone who is actually sick to bring a note to their work to prove that their sick, when you come in to their office, sick.
and why 25 dollars?

all i know is that jobs aren't there to cover or help you out in anyway, they're not friends. i've heard lots of stories from a lot of friends and family around me who get screwed over by their jobs somehow in someway, either to really petty stuff to serious stuff such as health problems and refusing to pay for accidents when it was the job's negligence to cause the accident. and the types of places they work at places like walmart, target, barnes & nobles, etc.

its not fair, but know that your not alone when dealing with this kind of garbage. i guess it just happens. just try to figure out your way around it.

Soraru said:

ive never heard of paying money to get a doctors note... that don't sound too fair to me, and it don't make much sense to charge someone who is actually sick to bring a note to their work to prove that their sick, when you come in to their office, sick.
and why 25 dollars?

all i know is that jobs aren't there to cover or help you out in anyway, they're not friends. i've heard lots of stories from a lot of friends and family around me who get screwed over by their jobs somehow in someway, either to really petty stuff to serious stuff such as health problems and refusing to pay for accidents when it was the job's negligence to cause the accident. and the types of places they work at places like walmart, target, barnes & nobles, etc.

its not fair, but know that your not alone when dealing with this kind of garbage. i guess it just happens. just try to figure out your way around it.

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I have no idea why it costs so much for a doctor's note.. I called my usual clinic and asked them, and they said it's $25. Apparently it's the norm to pay for doctor's notes, at least here in BC? Unless maybe you have insurance or something. It's ridiculous. When I called my manager earlier, my voice was almost completely gone and croaky, so I am very obviously sick. And if that's not enough, he just has to ask anyone who saw me at work yesterday to figure out I was sick. You can't fake a cough and a congested nose. I just feel kind of insulted, and it seems as though it's insinuating that I'm faking (since they asked me for a note and did not ask others). Thanks for your advice. I'll just have to deal with it somehow.. My health is more important than money I suppose..

Lag site I was supposed to vote yes -.- Ignore the result.

But no you shouldn't have to pay for a freaking note, shouldn't it be enough if it's just one or two days that you just call in? Your job place seems a bit shady from reading your post tbh.

not sure if you're in the u.s, but at least here a doctor's visit costs anywhere from $25 to hundreds really >___> because of insurance. so a doctor's note would technically cost $25 or even more.

but ya employers will go out of their way to screw u. i don't see why u would need a note either cause they aren't paying u for sick days. that's very frustrating and i feel for u. i would say to leave that crappy job if they're underpaying u as it is but i understand that jobs aren't easy to find. it sucks but u just gotta hang on and maybe looking for something new if things like this keeps happening. ://

If they didn't respect me I wouldn't think twice about writing the bloody thing myself.

But I obviously can't recommend that. Wishing you the best of luck with these morons.

Arize said:

I have no idea why it costs so much for a doctor's note.. I called my usual clinic and asked them, and they said it's $25. Apparently it's the norm to pay for doctor's notes, at least here in BC? Unless maybe you have insurance or something. It's ridiculous. When I called my manager earlier, my voice was almost completely gone and croaky, so I am very obviously sick. And if that's not enough, he just has to ask anyone who saw me at work yesterday to figure out I was sick. You can't fake a cough and a congested nose. I just feel kind of insulted, and it seems as though it's insinuating that I'm faking (since they asked me for a note and did not ask others). Thanks for your advice. I'll just have to deal with it somehow.. My health is more important than money I suppose..

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yes indeed. no matter how much they want to try to discredit you to provoke you into coming in or trying to prove something at the expense of your health, don't do it. seen lots of examples where people values their job and keeping up impressions with the boss over their health, and in all cases it don't end well for the person's health. keep an eye on them, if they try to misuse you too much, then have a backup plan for another, better job. it don't hurt to send in more job applications to places, even to higher positions. you gotta try.

Sheila said:

Lag site I was supposed to vote yes -.- Ignore the result.

But no you shouldn't have to pay for a freaking note, shouldn't it be enough if it's just one or two days that you just call in? Your job place seems a bit shady from reading your post tbh.

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They're definitely not the perfect company, but to be fair, they've been the most wonderful company I've worked for. Although the bar hasn't been set too high since my previous jobs had the owners calling me ugly and and taking advantage of me and doing other inappropriate things so... And yeah, you would think that calling in would be good enough for missing a 4 hour shift but nope! Have to waste my time and money going to a clinic now instead of resting. I'd rather be going to work and suffering and at least making money than missing out on work and suffering in a clinic with long wait times instead and then paying for being sick.

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Thanks for your words/advice everyone! I'm glad to know I'm not crazy or entitled for feeling this way.

... that doesn't sound like a wonderful job and if that is better than your previous/other things... quit or you seem to have real bad luck man.

i completely disagree with healthcare being a paid system in any sense

I think I remember this isn't the first time about you making a topic on your job. Honestly, it does not sound like a good place to work if they're requiring a doctor's note to take a day off you're not even going to be paid. Speaking as someone who has managed people, I would not allow employees to come in if they're sick because it'll easily spread to the rest of the staff or customers. (Almost everyone on staff eventually ended up sick because a co-worker refused to go home.) Even from a customer's viewpoint, if I saw an employee at a restaurant who was sick handling my food, I'd wouldn't come back. That's just basic common sense, lol. A good restaurant would tell anyone sick to go home.

I do understand this mentality by employers is very common among restaurants. People gotta do what they gotta do to cover rent and living expenses which I completely get. Here in the US, insurance is a mess so you can pay from nothing to hundreds/thousands of dollars. It's pretty stupid.

Anyway, I'd probably focus on getting better (drink lots of liquids) & to look for a different job. Jobs that value your work over your health & well-being are never worth it. Been there, done that. Good luck on getting better.

uh sorry if im being rude but like
you havent mentioned how often you take a sick day, and i feel thats an important factor

like at schoo, if you take one sick day off and call in theyll be like "yeah sure" but like if you're calling in sick a LOT then theyll start asking questions, naturally

i havent seen ur other threads about your job so yeah im not sure how bad or god it is but Yeah you should really mention that ://

himeki said:

uh sorry if im being rude but like
you havent mentioned how often you take a sick day, and i feel thats an important factor

like at schoo, if you take one sick day off and call in theyll be like "yeah sure" but like if you're calling in sick a LOT then theyll start asking questions, naturally

i havent seen ur other threads about your job so yeah im not sure how bad or god it is but Yeah you should really mention that ://

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Please read the whole post! Quote from second paragraph: "I understand if I was asking for a few days off or if I've been calling in sick a lot. But this is my first time."

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Chicha said:

I think I remember this isn't the first time about you making a topic on your job. Honestly, it does not sound like a good place to work if they're requiring a doctor's note to take a day off you're not even going to be paid. Speaking as someone who has managed people, I would not allow employees to come in if they're sick because it'll easily spread to the rest of the staff or customers. (Almost everyone on staff eventually ended up sick because a co-worker refused to go home.) Even from a customer's viewpoint, if I saw an employee at a restaurant who was sick handling my food, I'd wouldn't come back. That's just basic common sense, lol. A good restaurant would tell anyone sick to go home.

I do understand this mentality by employers is very common among restaurants. People gotta do what they gotta do to cover rent and living expenses which I completely get. Here in the US, insurance is a mess so you can pay from nothing to hundreds/thousands of dollars. It's pretty stupid.

Anyway, I'd probably focus on getting better (drink lots of liquids) & to look for a different job. Jobs that value your work over your health & well-being are never worth it. Been there, done that. Good luck on getting better.

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Yeah that's the ironic thing about working as a server. You shouldn't be sick around food but they discourage you from taking sick days and even punish you for it. The industry is really messed up.

But yeah, I'm going to focus on my health and I'm going to bring it up with management tomorrow. Thanks for your support

Yeah I think that's super unfair. The concept of having to pay for healthcare at all is ridiculous to me, I'm so glad I live in Canada. But I think the whole doctor's note practice is flawed too because, as you said, who even goes to the doctor when they have a bad cold? Like I never go to the doctor when I'm sick but that doesn't mean I'm capable of functioning at work or school

VanessaMay18 said:

Yeah I think that's super unfair. The concept of having to pay for healthcare at all is ridiculous to me, I'm so glad I live in Canada. But I think the whole doctor's note practice is flawed too because, as you said, who even goes to the doctor when they have a bad cold? Like I never go to the doctor when I'm sick but that doesn't mean I'm capable of functioning at work or school

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Exactly! I only go to the doctor when I need a prescription written for my birth control, which is like once a year. Whenever I'm sick, I tough it out and try to heal at home. Only will get checked out if I think it's actually serious, and that's like once every 5 years.

Btw I live in Canada too but doctor's notes still cost money for some reason...

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Update: So apparently, protocol is that you only need a note if you need 3 days off or more, according to the experiences of my coworkers. I do not know why I'm being treated differently, but I am really mad. I'm going to refuse getting the note and I'm going to confront them about it. Unacceptable that I'm being singled out.

I do find that to be unfair. Nobody should have to pay for a doctor's note especially if there sick and NEED rest.

The food industry is very fickle and unfortunately, it is expensive being sick. No one ever anticipates getting sick and once you finally do because life just happens, you need to purchase remedies to help your system in fighting it off so that you can actually rest and get better so you can get back to life. I was sick for about a week and I just recovered not too long ago and it takes time out of my life that I cannot get back because whether I'm sick or healthy, life keeps moving on.

I haven't ever heard of paying for a doctor's note and what I have done before is go to the ER to get seen quickly in the same day and have a doctor sign me off with a note. Where I live you can go to the ER for free and walk out with what you need.

As for providing a note, it is silly but it is your way of excusing your absence from work as they hired you with the condition that you would be available and dependable. If you can't excuse your absence I would call ahead and speak to the General Manager and let them know your situation. In my experience when you talk to people they will most likely work with you especially considering that this is unusual behavior for you (since you said you've never called in sick before.)

It is so lame but it is their policy and unfortunately that is what you need to do in order to keep your job. I'm not trying to lecture you or be condescending at all and I have had my fair share of time spent waiting tables so please believe me that I feel for you and I am sorry this is happening to you. I wish that your situation would ease up a bit so that way you can be able to do what you need to do.

I know it might feel like you're trapped but in the meantime try searching for other jobs that isn't food service. Generally you are treated better and you're more valuable to the company rather than disposable. (I'm speaking from personal experience here haha.)

To answer your question, no it is not wrong to think that it is unfair.

Hope it helps

Based on this post, this seems totally unfair. I know that I probably shouldn't ask this, but could you look for other jobs? It's just that I'd be really pissed off if I was in your situation.

don't you miss elementary school when all you needed was a slight cough and your parents phone call to the school and you could sleep, play video games and do whatever you wanted all day

Most places only require a sick note if it's three days in a row that you call off, since you were visibly sick at your shift you worked in between the two days you called off, they shouldn't have required a note, so that part is unfair. It's mostly to prove you're sick because you're not at work for them to see, so that's weird they asked for one when it was very apparent.

But I voted "No." in the poll because under normal circumstances if you're sick for more than a few days you should be going to the doctors anyways, especially if it's something you think is contagious.