Opinion from Federal Times<\/p>\n
Sick leave is a job benefit, not a privilege<\/strong><\/p>\n While managers may have the legal right to use sick leave restriction letters [“How to fight sick leave abuse,” Ask the Lawyer column, April 19 issue], I could find no guidelines during my career on what constitutes sick leave abuse. There was no usable definition of what constitutes incapacity.<\/p>\n Is a headache sufficient reason to take sick leave? What about depression and other gray areas? Simply having a chronic condition may be reason for days off.<\/p>\n Having to submit to interrogation by a manager who may already be hostile toward an employee for absences is demeaning and rife with potential for abuse by the manager.<\/p>\n Not all conditions require a visit to the doctor, so requiring this documentation is not an effective way to respond to sick leave abuse.<\/p>\n Managers are not doctors and are not qualified to make decisions about what constitutes incapacity, especially in the absence of agency guidelines.<\/p>\n Managers are not employment lawyers and are not qualified to make judgments about what constitutes abuse.<\/p>\n