(no subject)

From SMH:

But today Senator Joyce said he did not agree with a section of the bill which will require employees to get a doctor's certificate if they take a day off sick.

...

But he said, as an employer, he would not demand a doctor's certificate every time a worker took a day off sick.

"I know my own position, my biggest resource is my employees and if I started asking people who work for my business for a certificate every time they took a day off, they would find another job and I would be the loser on that one."

Later, Senator Joyce said people may be initially concerned about a provision in the industrial relations laws that a person would be required to have a medical certificate for every day they are off work ill.

He said he hoped that in most workplaces it would not be a problem.

"I think the vast majority, and I have my own employees and my own business, work on a thing called trust," he told the John Laws radio program.

"If someone rings up and says, 'Look, I'm feeling sick today' and they're a reasonable person then you'll take your word for it."

But Senator Joyce said there could be problems where a person works in a town that does not have a doctor, or there are long waits to see a doctor.

"In a town like Theodore (Queensland) you won't be able to get a medical certificate because you mightn't have a doctor in the town," he said.

"That is a very valid reason and that's something we'll be looking at in the review process and something we'll be following up."


Even in Sydney it can be a pain to get an appointment the same day, unless you wait for a few hours in a medical clinic.

Have they thought about the cost to Medicare of people having to get a medical certificate for one day off sick? Someone might have food poisoning, or a 24 hour bug, and need to stay within sprinting distance of a loo. How are they going to manage to go to a doctor? Some women may have bad period pain for one day, are they going to have to go to a doctor? Or a migraine? And if you can't see a doctor till say 6pm, by which time the worst of the sickness may've passed, what are you supposed to do?

Two days in a row off sick, I can understand that. But needing a medical certificate for one day? Bloody ridiculous.

(no subject)

From SMH:

But today Senator Joyce said he did not agree with a section of the bill which will require employees to get a doctor's certificate if they take a day off sick.

...

But he said, as an employer, he would not demand a doctor's certificate every time a worker took a day off sick.

"I know my own position, my biggest resource is my employees and if I started asking people who work for my business for a certificate every time they took a day off, they would find another job and I would be the loser on that one."

Later, Senator Joyce said people may be initially concerned about a provision in the industrial relations laws that a person would be required to have a medical certificate for every day they are off work ill.

He said he hoped that in most workplaces it would not be a problem.

"I think the vast majority, and I have my own employees and my own business, work on a thing called trust," he told the John Laws radio program.

"If someone rings up and says, 'Look, I'm feeling sick today' and they're a reasonable person then you'll take your word for it."

But Senator Joyce said there could be problems where a person works in a town that does not have a doctor, or there are long waits to see a doctor.

"In a town like Theodore (Queensland) you won't be able to get a medical certificate because you mightn't have a doctor in the town," he said.

"That is a very valid reason and that's something we'll be looking at in the review process and something we'll be following up."


Even in Sydney it can be a pain to get an appointment the same day, unless you wait for a few hours in a medical clinic.

Have they thought about the cost to Medicare of people having to get a medical certificate for one day off sick? Someone might have food poisoning, or a 24 hour bug, and need to stay within sprinting distance of a loo. How are they going to manage to go to a doctor? Some women may have bad period pain for one day, are they going to have to go to a doctor? Or a migraine? And if you can't see a doctor till say 6pm, by which time the worst of the sickness may've passed, what are you supposed to do?

Two days in a row off sick, I can understand that. But needing a medical certificate for one day? Bloody ridiculous.