Sickie loophole must be plugged

DOCTORS are being urged to close a little-known loophole that allows employees to mislead employers about their health.

GPs are obliged to be honest in their writing of sicknotes but can be flexible in their defining of an illness if they think it may be prejudicial to their patientís well being or position at work.

National law firm Rowe Cohen says employers are reporting a growing trend of sicknotes with a ínon-specificí diagnosis. For example, ístressí or ídepressioní is being described as íviral infectioní or ístomach problemsí.

The Guide for Registered Medical Practitioners states that there are occasions when a doctor may feel it could be prejudicial to their patientís well being if a sick note or medical certificate bearing the true diagnosis were to be issued. Doctors are advised in the guide to consider who will see the note before they write it so if it is written for the purposes of supporting absence from work it seems clear that using a false diagnosis is meant to throw the employer off a particular scent.

Brian Rogers, Operations Director, at Rowe Cohen, said:

In an age where businesses and the Government try to reduce absence at the same time as promoting employee welfare, itís bizarre that a GP can, in effect, collude with their patient to mislead an employer.

Business owners owe a duty of care to their staff and make adjustments where necessary under the Disability Discrimination Act. This is impossible if they donít know the extent of the ítrueí illness. Although there may be a defence to not knowing about a specific illness it is for the employer to investigate the illnesses of an employee to see if there is any indication that could lead them to believe that there is a more serious underlying medical condition than that stated on the sick note. In effect HR staff are expected to be part-doctor as well!

In addition to this, employers who want to look after their staff by sending them to a medical specialist for assistance could be wasting their time and money, if they are sending them to a specialist in viral infections when in fact the ítrueí problem is depression.

Employers need to know where they stand or they could risk being the subject of unlimited compensation claims from employees who say they werenít properly treated in the workplace after an illness, added Rogers.