Company Gets What They Asked For And Then Some When This Man's Doctor Makes Sure He Gets To Fully Recover From Being Sick

Some workplace rules sound harmless until they land on someone who is genuinely sick. In this Reddit story, a man dealing with food poisoning called in to say he would miss work, only to be told he needed a doctor’s note before his absence would count.

That turned a miserable day into a pointless errand, because he still had to drag himself to a doctor just to satisfy the company’s policy. What happened next made the whole situation even more frustrating, and a lot more satisfying to read.

Here’s the full story.

It's not terribly uncommon for a company to say that someone needs a doctor's note to prove that they were actually sick, but there are plenty of illnesses that don't actually require something so expensive.

francisblack (not the actual photo)

Now, this guy had to visit his doctor, who wrote down stomach flu as the issue instead of food poisoning and also extended his days of leave. It's very easy to be too sick to go to work (or school) but not sick enough to clog up a doctor's office, urgent care, or ER, and many medical providers find policies like these to do more harm than good for the few people who may be lying when they call in sick.

Here is the full story in the OP’s own words below.

I am a grown man

u/jaxmagicman

I got food poisoning

u/jaxmagicman

Decided to call in sick

u/jaxmagicman

That policy turned a sick day into a doctor visit.

So, I went to my doctor

u/jaxmagicman

Thanks for forcing me to see a doctor

u/jaxmagicman

Company policies are meant to be guidelines to help employers better manage their workers’ health, safety, and productivity, among other things. Policies are there to ensure that employees separate work from their personal lives in order for things to run smoothly.

From the story, you can see that the OP was surprised to find out that workers were now expected to bring a doctor’s report if they wanted to go on sick leave. And voila, that is how it became a company policy, and every worker will have to comply.

Here is what people had to say in response to the post:

A few commenters had plenty to say about sick notes.

This is similar to the coworker whose family emergency left them refusing to cover at work.

From an emergency room physician

ZackyMidnight

Incredibly common in my state

barryandorlevon

How it was like working in a local government

DistressdDamsel

Why I left my office job...

MrFlynnister

A similar story but in the reverse direction

thezuule

Thought sick notes were normal practices

Untimely_manners

Charges for a doctor's note

froggyc19

Confused? Consult Google

whizzdome

This is a bizarre case

WhimsiesofKitties

All about my pharmacy school

14SierraMist14

Great company I must say

EleJames

According to my country's labor law...

Chim23

There's no heart

self-depricator

Really disgusting

aquatrez

Every now and then, we may come across certain company policies that may sound bizarre or different from other policies you’ve heard of, but the fact is that these policies are there for a purpose. We can either comply with them or resist them if the policies are not favorable for us.

So let us know your thoughts about this post by leaving a comment below

May this kind of policy never find you.

Wait until you see if this employee is a jerk about coworker dietary restrictions.