Does the employer have the right to request proof of illness if an employee only has one day of sick leave?
Employers are able to ask for proof of sickness or injury at any time once an employee takes sick leave.
Special rules apply if the employer requests proof within three consecutive calendar days of the employee taking sick leave. The employer must inform the employee as early as possible that the proof is required, and pay the reasonable expenses in getting proof. Employers are not required to have reasonable grounds to suspect that the sick leave is not genuine before requesting proof within these first three consecutive calendar days.
How the employer would meet these expenses would be an agreement matter between both parties. They could agree, for example, that the employee pays the doctor’s bill and gets reimbursed by the employer, or they might agree that the doctor’s bill will be sent direct to the employer for payment.
The employer cannot require the employee to visit a particular doctor, i.e. the employee has the right to choose their own doctor.
Date Modified: Thursday, March 31, 2011
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and should not be used as a substitute for legislation or legal advice. State sector employers
and employees may be affected by some differences in the laws that apply to them (e.g. State
Sector Act 1988). The Department of Labour takes no responsibility for the results of any actions taken
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