What could happen to you if you fake a sick note?
Updated | By Stacey & J Sbu
Employees who submit fraudulent sick notes can face fair dismissals if found guilty, as a recent Labour Appeal Court case proved.
There’s been an increase in medical certificate abuse in South Africa, with a number of cases making their way to the labour courts.
Not only does forging a sick note amount to dishonesty, but it also constitutes serious misconduct and fraud, allowing companies to fairly dismiss those found guilty.
BusinessTech reports that legal experts at Baker McKenzie, Johan Botes and JJ van der Walt, revealed that a case of said sick leave abuse made its way to the Labour Appeal Court.
The court case in question’s judgment was handed down earlier this month and looked at evidence of employees who received pay for leave days using fraudulent medical certificates.
After an investigation, it was discovered that said employees had not visited the medical facilities recorded in the medical certificates. In addition, the signatures on the certificates did not include an initial or surname, while the certificate itself did not boast a practice number.
According to Botes and Van der Walt, employees run the risk of losing their jobs if they hand over fraudulent medical certificates or lie about being ill. These employees will not receive any sympathy from the Labour Court, they said: “Employees who are dismissed for dishonesty related to purported sickness should expect no sympathy from the employment tribunal or Labour Court.”
Follow us on social media:
HOW TO LISTEN TO EAST COAST RADIO
- Listen to East Coast Radio on the FM (frequency modulation) spectrum between 94 and 95 FM on your radio.
- Listen live to ECR by clicking here or download the ECR App\(iOS/Android).
- Listen to East Coast Radio on the DStv audio bouquet, channel 836.
- Switch to the audio bouquet on your Openview decoder and browse to channel 606
- Listen to us on Amazon Alexa.
Image courtesy of iStock
MORE ON EAST COAST RADIO
Show's Stories
-
Darren's daddy-daughter December itinerary
Darren Maule shares his festive fun guide to making December special for...
East Coast Breakfast 49 minutes ago -
TIME magazine’s Top 10 finalists for Person of the year
TIME Magazine has officially revealed their list of finalists for person...
East Coast Breakfast an hour ago