Medical certificate in case of absences from work

A medical certificate, also called a medical certificate, is a document issued by the family doctor or the emergency department when a worker presents with a common illness that requires a certain period of rest that makes it impossible for him or her to attend work. However, it is not equivalent to sick leave, something that is controversial in many cases. In this article, thanks to our experience as employment lawyers, we will take the opportunity to differentiate between the two documents and explain the value of each one.

What exactly are medical certificates?

A medical certificate, as mentioned above, is an official document issued by a doctor detailing the date and time at which the patient attended the doctor's surgery and recommending that the patient should rest for one or more days. This is usually presented by the employee to his or her employer to justify his or her absence, which is perfectly lawful and fully compliant with the law.

However, why is it not equivalent to an official medical leave certificate? The answer is simple. During the first three days of sick leave due to common sickness, workers, unless otherwise specified in the agreement to which they are subject, are not entitled to wage benefits. Therefore, when the recommended period of rest is less than this period of time, health professionals often choose to issue this document rather than the other. Moreover, when you go to an emergency department, the doctors present there are not able to issue a sick note, as only family doctors are currently empowered to do so.

Unjustified non-attendance at work

Unjustified absence from work is covered by Article 54.2a) of the Workers' Statute. It is also covered in all sector-specific collective agreements. In all of them, a medical certificate is considered as the equivalent of sick leave when justifying an absence.

With an official medical certificate, the employee confirms to the employer that he or she is unable to be present at the workplace for a certain period of time, thus fulfilling his or her duty in legal terms. In fact, this is the reason why the company cannot take action or impose sanctions against the employee for non-attendance at work.

Do the days have to be deducted from the monthly salary?

Article 131 of the General Law on Social Security establishes that when a doctor issues a sick leave report to a worker, the worker is not entitled to be paid during the first 3 days of absence from work. Therefore, although no specific mention is made, it follows that the medical certificate of attendance with a recommendation to rest for a maximum period of 72 hours is equivalent in this case.

Therefore, on this point, it must be said that, yes, companies are not obliged to pay the employee for the days he/she misses work, even if he/she provides a medical certificate. However, most of them are subject to collective agreements that provide for the payment of a supplement for this situation, i.e. a higher or lower percentage, depending on the case, of their salary.

To determine whether the same payment should be made for these three days, it is necessary to read the clauses of the collective agreement in question. Generally, if they specify that a sick leave report is required, companies do not usually pay the allowance for these three days to those who justify their absence with a medical certificate.

Are those days of absence from work justified by a medical certificate paid for?

When there is a medical leave certificate, the worker, even if they do not receive their salary during those three days, continues to pay contributions on a daily basis, which is the result of dividing the monthly basis prior to the start of the absence from work by the number of days contributed. It can also be calculated by estimating the average of the last quarter if you are employed part-time.

However, days of absence justified by a medical certificate are calculated in a different way, i.e. they do pay contributions, but on a smaller scale. In fact, the law establishes that the minimum corresponding to the professional category to which the employee belongs must be taken as the contribution base.

Final considerations regarding the proof of work

After all that we have discussed in this article, it is clear that the proof of work issued by doctors creates some legal uncertainty for both the employee and the company that receives it. As we have already mentioned, in the case of going to the emergency room, the doctors present there do not have the power to issue a sick leave, so they must hand over the work-related medical certificate. The most effective recommendation that can be made at this point is for the worker to go to their family doctor as soon as possible so that he/she can give them the official sick leave report.

The doctor, in the event that he/she sees evidence that the patient is unable to work, even if it is only for one day, can issue the official sick leave report. Therefore, if he does not do so, the employee is entitled to demand that he does so, and he cannot refuse. In this way, all the headaches arising from medical justifications are eliminated in one fell swoop. So much so that most companies even recommend their employees to exercise this right.

In short, a medical certificate of absence from work is only useful if it is issued by an emergency service so that the employee can inform his employer in advance that he will not be able to attend work within a certain period of time. Once you leave the centre, the best thing to do is to go to your family doctor and ask him or her to provide you with the official medical certificate.

At Elías y Muñoz abogados we have a team of employment lawyers with extensive experience in employment law. If you have any doubts or queries, please do not hesitate to contact us.