An Air New Zealand Boeing 747-400...what a significant victory for Air New Zealand regarding disputes on sick leave.
Air New Zealand wins Facebook access
Auckland: Requests for sick leave are usually taken at face value by employers, underpinned by the trust and confidence that exist in the employment relationship.
Abuse of sick leave and misuse of medical certificates only becomes problematic where patterns of absence develop or where a request for sick leave appears inconsistent with the employee’s demeanour, or escapades as captured on Facebook.
The reality is that it is hardly difficult for an employee to obtain a medical certificate from their GP.
A Herald on Sunday reporter recently visited three Auckland doctors and was given time off work by all of them after saying he “wasn’t feeling 100 per cent” and was “a bit tired”.
If these symptoms were described in the workplace, most employers would rightfully tell the employee to harden up.
But faced with such a certificate, an employer acting in good faith has little option but to follow the doctor’s guidance.
Victory for Air NZ
Last month, a procedural victory for Air New Zealand in the Employment Relations Authority strengthened the position of employers where there are disputes relating to sick leave.
Flight attendant Gina Kensington was dismissed by Air New Zealand following a dispute about sick leave she allegedly took to care for her sister.
While the substantive decision went against Air New Zealand and Kensington was found to have been unjustifiably dismissed, the authority ordered disclosure of Kensington’s bank records and Facebook page for the days she claimed to have been on sick leave. This was in order to establish the veracity of her claims that she was caring for her sister.
It will give employers some comfort to know that by widening the range of information that an employee may be required to provide, a suspicious medical certificate can be tested against other evidence.
The authority’s decision intimates that Kensington’s decision to post photos of herself on Takapuna Beach, and upload them to her Facebook page at the same time as she was attempting to text her employer to arrange sick leave for the day, was a relevant factor in the authority’s assessment of whether she contributed to her dismissal.
Procedural review
The Medical Council has recently been reviewing the standard it produces for doctors issuing certificates.
Under the proposed changes, doctors will be required to include more expansive information and disclose more about the patient’s diagnosis and any limitations on his or her ability to work.
This will add some teeth to an employer’s request for a medical certificate where misuse of sick leave is suspected.
More often than not, an employer is not particularly interested in receiving detailed health information, which of course the GP is unable to disclose given the patient’s right to privacy.
Under the proposed changes, the focus is taken away from detailed health information, and focuses on activity prescription – what the employee can and should do, rather than what they can’t.
This change will allow employers to engage in dialogue with the employee earlier about a structured return to work.
Where the doctor believes the condition arises from the workplace environment, the doctor will be required to include both the diagnosis and the factors relating to the workplace that are believed have contributed to the illness.
– Business Day/New Zealand Herald