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An interesting post I came across regarding the qualifying criteria for medical leave.
Almost every company in Singapore that I know of have a medical leave entitlement on top of their annual leave, and almost every company that I know of requries a medical certificate to qualify for it. Same thing as back in school.
Of course, I can understand the rationale behind it. Without it, there will probably be alot of people that will want to use up their full 'entitlement' of their medical leave, even if they are not sick. A simple phone call 'entitles' you to a day off work, and with the normal companies practice of 14 days, I'll be betting that at least once a month many will be tempted to take that 'entitlement'.
But I personally faced a problem with this issue when I was back in school. Though I seldom fall sick nowadays (touch wood!), I was pretty sickly when I was younger. I started to get a lot better when instead of the western medication, my parents started bringing me to traditional chinese sinseh. I'm not sure if its still the case now, but back then my school refused to recognise that fact, and insist that I get a 'real' MC. I was threatened that I will not be allowed to take my examinations if I continue to miss any more days without an MC, and even after my parents wrote in and came down personally to speak to the principal, they insist it was MOE policies and stuck to their guns. Since then, whenever I was sick, I would have to endure a toturous wait in line at the polyclinic simply to get that MC, throw the medication away, and go to the chinese sinseh for consulation, and take that medication. Often, that would take up my entire day, compared to the 1/2 or 3/4 day that a normal school day entails.
I haven't been to a chinese sinseh for a while now, but with TCM becoming alot more mainstream, I heard that they even have their own MC now. Whether schools or companies accept that or not I really do not know... I sincerly hope that they do though...
From Today
Have days when no MC is needed
Letter from Edwin Yeo Tee Yeok 09:10 PM Sep 24, 2009
Currently, most employees in Singapore have about 14 days of medical leave benefit on top of their normal annual leave entitlement. However, to qualify for medical leave, employees are always required to produce a medical certificate or "MC".
Individuals are often caught in a dilemma when they wake up in the morning with a minor ailment, such as a cold or a cough. Should they go to work since it is only a minor condition, or should they stay home so as not to spread the virus at the office? Conventional wisdom would suggest the latter.
In most cases, there is in fact no need to consult a doctor for such minor conditions, since there is a variety of effective medication available off-the-shelf at pharmacies. Indeed, most families are already well-stocked up with such generic medicine.
The only reason that one would need to see a doctor is simply to obtain that piece of paper that allows him/her to apply for medical leave at the office, thus the familiar phrase - "to take MC". For that, he/she would have to pay for the consultation as well as medication that they do not need. This is not only a waste of money but also a waste of time since the individual could do better to stay home and rest, instead of spending half a day at the clinic's waiting room.
My suggestion is for employers to allocate a certain number of days out of the current medical leave entitlement and designate them simply as "sick leave" whereby employees can just call in sick without having to produce an MC. Of course, if the condition deteriorates, the individual should still consult a doctor. But, by allowing for such "sick leave", it would greatly reduce the number of times that Singaporeans have to see doctors for minor ailments. This will help to control medical costs for individuals as well as employers. At the same time, it will help in reducing the workload for primary healthcare providers; and, with less time pressure, doctors can also perform better in addressing the needs of those who have more serious conditions.
I hope the authorities and companies can look into this possibility.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
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I've often had similar thoughts. I'm pretty sure that the system is abused in the US, at least some of the time, but there is no MC there. You simply call in sick. If you use up your sick days you have to use your vacation days instead. If you run out of vacation days you lose pay. Very simple. It lessens expenses and gives employees the benefit of the doubt, rather than treating them as though they can't be trusted. Some can't, but it's always better to believe people until they prove they can't be believed.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Unfortunately over here in Singapore, we tend to adopt the view that one is guilty, unless proven innocent. Just take a look at our justice system. Instead of the prosecutor proving guilt beyond all reasonable doubt, the onus is on the accused to prove their innocence.
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