'Sickie' rule changes may hit parents

Parents who stay home for a single day to care for a sick child could be forced to get medical certificates to cover their time off work under Government changes.

Plans to change sick leave rules would allow employers to demand medical certificates from the first day off, rather than after three days as at present.

The employer would have to pay for the doctor's visit, a provision Prime Minister John Key said would ensure the change was used sparingly.

But GPs warned yesterday that the change would pose problems as most surgeries were unable to offer same-day appointments.

Medical Association GP council chairman Mark Peterson said forcing workers to get certificates for a single sick day was likely to see doctors being asked to provide retrospective diagnoses.

"If someone has an appointment on a Thursday ... it's very hard to infer from that how sick they were on Monday."

The plans also got the thumbs down from Government support partner UnitedFuture leader Peter Dunne.

"It's not always possible to get an appointment with a doctor on the very day you fall ill. Is the employee then to forgo sick leave for that day, when they can't see a doctor through any fault of their own?"

Labour Minister Kate Wilkinson's office said yesterday that the change would apply to parents who used their sick leave for a single day to care for a child, meaning they would have to take them to a doctor for a certificate if their employer ordered it. The provision would also apply to workers staying home to care for sick spouses or partners.

Mr Key said the change would not affect most workers, but was necessary to allow employers to target those who had suspicious patterns of sick leave.

He rejected claims it would lead to a flood of workers queuing up at GP clinics for minor, one-day ailments.

"In the real world, if you're sick on one day, and it's the first day you've been sick, I don't think your employer is going to say that's unreasonable.

"I think if they see you taking every Monday off, five Mondays in a row, they might start saying there's a problem."

A straw poll by the Greens yesterday of 40 GPs in four centres found only 12 could offer same-day appointments for someone with flu-like symptoms.

Greens co-leader Russel Norman said the findings showed the "draconian" plans would be unworkable and a drain on already stretched health resources.

- © Fairfax NZ News