The Ontario Medical Association has declared employers must stop demanding their staff produce a doctor's note every time they have a sick day.
Corporate bean counters may worry about lost productivity and we all collectively slap our foreheads and cringe when we hear a story about an employee calling in sick and then showing up on social media with Mai Tai in hand.
But a boss's requirement for a doctor's note is a presumption of guilt - that cold and flu season is something made up by people who just want a day off. And instead of being at home, in bed, getting rest so they can show up back to work healthy, employees must sit in a crowded waiting room, infecting others and being just as miserable as they would be at work.
It's also a drain on the time and expertise of doctors, who should be focusing on patients in need of medical intervention, not ones who need fluids and bed rest and a piece of paper stating the obvious.
As the medical association pointed out, this foists the role of truant officer onto doctors.
Showing up to work sick is the other and equally improper way to handle workplace illness.
Unfortunately, the trend in business has been to shrink down the workforce to the bare minimum to protect profits and when one person falls sick, they feel obligated to suffer through and get the job done.
The trouble is, they're also contagious. And misery loves company.
