For an employee to benefit from paid sick leave that is to receive pay for time off due to illness for any period of more than two consecutive days (or more than two occasions during an eight-week period) a valid medical certificate is required.

A valid medical certificate is one that states that the employee was unable to work for the duration of their illness and must be signed by a registered medical practitioner.

 Employees who provide medical certificates that simply state that the doctor was advised that the employee was ill and unfit for work are not valid. The certificate must state that the employee was unable to work on account of their illness, which must be a diagnosis of the registered medical practitioner. Recording the incapacity as a medical condition, is likewise, not valid

Employees should be trained as to their responsibilities when it comes to sick leave and the specific requirements related to the provision of medical certificates and the consequences of not submitting them, and more importantly of submitting false Certificates, namely, summary termination.

In so far as the Australian sickie nis concerned – taking a day off to attend to things other than work and labeling it as sick leave in order to be paid, it is again worth cautioning employees that this will constitute an abuse of sick leave which will result in dismissal.

In the case of Woolworths (Pty) Ltd v Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration and Others [2022] 3 BLLR 296 (LAC), an employee ran into difficulty when advising his employer that he was ill and would not be able to attend work on the day. Instead of the employee being sick at home, he travelled over an hour to attend a rugby match. The employer investigated the sick leave claim and uncovered the true facts of the employee’s non-attendance at work. This resulted in the employee being charged with gross misconduct and ultimately being dismissed with the court stating that “this is dishonest conduct of a kind which clearly negatively impairs upon a relationship of trust between an employer and employee.”

Clearly, this is a warning to all employees that abuse of sick leave is a serious issue and one that can lead to dismissal.