Refused uncertified sick leave, how to obtain a GP medical cert retrospectively

P

PoundMan

Registered User
Messages
217
Hi folks, I returned to work today (public sector) and applied for uncertified sick leave for 12th & 13th December. I have been told that this has been rejected because I was on flexi leave on 11th December and apparently flexi (or annual) leave cannot be adjoining uncertified sick leave. I was not aware of this, I'm originally from Northern Ireland where things are definitely not as strict because you are allowed up to 5 consecutive days of uncertified sick leave compared to only 2 days down here, and there is no such rules up there where you cant have uncertified sick leave adjoined to regular annual/flexi leave.

I have been told my only options are to either get a GP medical cert to cover 12th & 13th Dec or take annual leave for the 2 days. I really don't want to have to take annual leave for the 2 days, but at the same time my illness didn't require me to attend my GP. I've been told that I might be able to obtain a retrospective medical cert through some kind of online doctor service through either my health insurance (VHI) or through my Trade Union (FORSA) membership or even through my Cornmarket salary protection scheme that includes a MyDoc service.

Can anyone offer any advice here? I'd sooner pay for a medical cert than lose 2 days of annual leave.
 
If you have a regular GP, phone them and ask for a cert., explain your boss needs one, but they while you were sick you weren’t sick enough to go to the GP, but your still need a cert. If they know you it should be straightforward.

If you don’t have a regular GP try the myDoc service. It should also be simple enough to explain your symptoms, what you did to recuperate and ask for a backdated cert.

Phone today so it is all fresh in your mind. Hope you are feeling better today!
 
Sue Ellen said:
That would require a standard G.P. fee surely whereas the VHI service could be free?
Click to expand...
It appears that VHI charge €33 for the online doctor consultation so I might try the MyDoc service through Cornmarket/FORSA to see if it might be cheaper.
 
PoundMan said:
It appears that VHI charge €33 for the online doctor consultation so I might try the MyDoc service through Cornmarket/FORSA to see if it might be cheaper.
Click to expand...
Managed to book a consultation through MyDoc service, there was no mention of a fee so fingers crossed it might actually be free. How much do GP's generally charge for a medical cert?
 
Charge will probably depend on your policy and provider, I'm with Laya and get I think 3 free online consults a year, don't how much it is after that as have never used up that quota, great service for small issues!
 
I’m with Irish Life Health. They will give a sick cert after a phone consultation. Not sure about retrospectively.

Edit: if you have an absence of more than three days they will not however sign the IB1 form you need to send to DSP so your employer can reclaim illness benefit. So even if you get a sick cert your employer will probably try to recoup the illness benefit from you via payroll deduction for a longer absence.

I agree this whole system is very old-fashioned but that’s what it is.
 
Last edited:
PoundMan said:
I have been told that this has been rejected because I was on flexi leave on 11th December and apparently flexi (or annual) leave cannot be adjoining uncertified sick leave.
Click to expand...
The rules were always as follows;
  • Annual or flexi leave followed by sick leave was allowed (you may fall ill while on holiday for example).
  • Self-certified or certified sickleave may not be followed by annual or flexi leave. You must present yourself at work in order to provie that you are fit to resume your duties and therefore be eligible to take annual/flexi leave.
Unless something has changed, it looks like you did it in the correct order. Maybe they made a mistake?

Are you sure that you haven't gone over the self-certified limit i.e. 7 days in a rolling 2 years?
 
Páid said:
The rules were always as follows;
  • Annual or flexi leave followed by sick leave was allowed (you may fall ill while on holiday for example).
  • Self-certified or certified sickleave may not be followed by annual or flexi leave. You must present yourself at work in order to provie that you are fit to resume your duties and therefore be eligible to take annual/flexi leave.
Unless something has changed, it looks like you did it in the correct order. Maybe they made a mistake?

Are you sure that you haven't gone over the self-certified limit i.e. 7 days in a rolling 2 years?
Click to expand...

This is exactly what HR told me:

"In relation to your uncertified sick leave for 12th & 13th Dec., unfortunately as you were on flexi leave 11th Dec., flexi (or annual) leave cannot be adjoining uncertified sick leave. The only options for you are to either get a GP medical cert to cover 12th & 13th Dec. or take annual leave for the 2 days."
Click to expand...

I should point out that thankfully HR have accepted the medical cert that I obtained through the MyDoc service so I probably won't be pushing this any further. But still interesting to know that they may have been in the wrong.
 
Can't provide anything useful here as it relates to the specific case, but I'm surprised. The legislation in other countries (e.g. Germany) is that if you fall sick during your annual leave, that these specific days that one had booked as annual leave days instead count as sick leave days as you obviously couldn't use the annual leave days for their intended purpose. So, you still have these annual leave days to use at a different time. It does need a cert though.
 
Páid said:
The rules were always as follows;
  • Annual or flexi leave followed by sick leave was allowed (you may fall ill while on holiday for example).
  • Self-certified or certified sickleave may not be followed by annual or flexi leave. You must present yourself at work in order to provie that you are fit to resume your duties and therefore be eligible to take annual/flexi leave.
Unless something has changed, it looks like you did it in the correct order. Maybe they made a mistake?

Are you sure that you haven't gone over the self-certified limit i.e. 7 days in a rolling 2 years?
Click to expand...
In the case of someone falling ill while on annual leave, it would be usual for the employee to get a cert to cover the entire period - where sick leave replaces annual leave.

The issue seems to be the self-certified sick leave rather than the order of leave (after all, the employer has allowed the OP to take sick leave after flexi, provided it is certified)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top