Employee Quits Job After Boss Denies Sick Leave Without Doctor's Note. WhatsApp Chat Goes Viral

A conversation between an employee and a boss, who denied a sick leave without a doctor's note, has gone viral on social media and left users furious. A screenshot of the exchange was shared on Reddit by user 'trustmebrotrust'. It shows how the employee was asked to submit a doctor's note for an "excused absence" by the supervisor. "I hate to do this, but I woke up with cold sweats," the employee wrote to his boss, adding that they had "fever creeping up and every part of the body is aching". "I don't think I'll be able to make it today," they stated. 

To this, the boss asked for a doctor's note to grant the sick leave. "Please get a doctor's note for an excused absence," the boss wrote. 

It was a short week on the job lol
byu/trustmebrotrust inantiwork

The employee then responded, "I haven't been to a doctor in like 3 years. I don't have the money to go to a doctor for just a fever, and yesterday I made the equivalent to 8$ a hour, is the doctors visit covered by the (company)". 

At this, the boss seemed agitated. "No but ur required to be at work unless u can provide a doctors note. If it's just a fever u should be ok to come in and work. Correct? The amount of money u bring home depends on how u work," the supervisor wrote. 

"Ok bud have fun sitting in the break room all day playing on your phone. Im out," the employee said, ending the conversation. 

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This Reddit post was shared just a few days back and since then it has accumulated more than 6,000 upvotes. Several internet users took to the comments section to share their thoughts. 

"This has to be a bottom end job. Retail or Food industry me thinks. I remember having to deal with this shit. Had strep throat. Breathing hurt. Felt like razor blades in my throat. Yeah, I probably could have still come in and done my job in misery. I'm not doing that for 7.50/hr," shared one user. 

"A doctor's note for one day? Oh hell no. Plus, even if you go to urgent care, they just tell you that you have a virus and to go home and rest. So, all the time you spend getting to the doctor is time you could have spent doing what you actually need to do to get better," expressed another. 

"This was audacious even before we just had a global pandemic. It's unacceptable now," commented a third user. "If you have a fever, you're almost certainly contagious, and you need to stay home until at least 24 hours after your fever is gone when not medicated. These were the instructions I explicitly gave my employees when I was a people manager. Companies that make people work sick should be taxed to pay for the public health systems we need to fix the problems they cause," added another.