A sick leave frees you from work.
But how do you get it when there are actually no health problems to complain about.
A family doctor reveals it.
There are some questions that you hardly trust to ask - not even your partner, nor a doctor or lawyer.
The topic is uncomfortable, the insight into the personal living conditions could be embarrassing and profound, maybe even threaten legal consequences.
The question today: My friend was not really sick, but he took sick leave - what did he have to tell the doctor to do that?
Sick leave: The patient must be able to assess for himself whether he can work
Answer: At best, the truth.
In principle, there are many clinical pictures that doctors find it difficult to assess in terms of incapacity for work
.
"You can't measure dizziness, and neither does stomach pain," says Hans Michael Mühlenfeld, general practitioner from Bremen and chairman of the Bremen General Practitioner Association.
He also relies on the common sense and judgment of his patients.
"From my point of view, everyone knows best whether they need a sick leave."
Doctors are often unable to assess this objectively because the patient's profession is also very important
.
Concentrated office work, for example, is very difficult or almost impossible with a severe headache.
"I take it seriously when someone honestly says to me: 'I'm feeling bad, please call me sick.'"
Video: sick leave via WhatsApp - is that actually allowed?
One can understand
:
for this reason, more and more colleagues are taking sick leave
.
These reasons for being on sick leave are not legitimate
Mühlenfeld doesn't like to be fooled - even if it happens every now and then without him noticing. Namely, when someone pretends to be sick and he writes the patient sick for it. Mühlenfeld looks at it soberly: "If someone lies to himself, I can't help it."
But there have also been patients who couldn't get on with honesty.
For example, if they did not need a sick leave for health reasons.
Mühlenfeld has already heard some creative justifications.
One of the classics:
Patients who have planned their vacation incorrectly and want to secure a few more days of vacation by being on sick leave
.
But with that they flash off at Mühlenfeld.
Such sick leave is
not lawful
under the Disability
Guidelines
.
"Of course I obey the law," he emphasizes.
Sick from flu: Medical society strongly advises vaccination - especially the elderly should take the warning seriously.
Survey on the subject
Also read
: This is how you really call in sick.
Also interesting
: sport, partying or shopping - you can do all of this despite being on sick leave.
dpa
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Surprising: these five professions make you sick