Take care when requiring a Doctors Note for employee absence

Take care when requiring a Doctors Note for employee absence

Employer attendance policies that require employees to provide a doctors note stating the nature of the absence before the health-related absence is excused can be viewed as an unlawful medical inquiry under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California recently upheld the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) when it ruled an employer violated the ADA by requiring that a doctors note, in support of an excused absence, must specifically identify the nature of the illness, or the absence would not be excused. Such attendance policies further violated the ADA when employees were sanctioned as a result of them.

The court held that requiring such information invited intrusive questioning into the employees medical condition in violation of the ADA, which makes clear that an employer shall not … make inquiries of an employee as to whether such employee is an individual with a disability, and if so, the nature or severity of the disability, unless such examination or inquiry is shown to be job-related and consistent with business necessity.

The court said further, however, that an employer may require its employees to submit a doctors note specifying the date on which the employee was seen, and that the absence from work was medically necessary. It has also been seen as reasonable for a doctors note to state a return date relative to the employees health.

This case provides a strong reminder for employers to review staff attendance policies to ensure that they comply with todays interpretation of workplace laws.