Doctor's Certificate for EVERY day off sick

[bawley]

I think that's my underlying concern.

People want solutions in any walk of life , whether it's medical , building or what ever , but no one can guarantee anything. If we waited untill we new things were perfectly safe, then they would have been superceeded by something else, but we wouldn't know whether that was safe either.....yet.

Obviously there has to be basic safety info provided but when do we stop.

An interesting example is Vioxx, which has been recently taken off the market.

I have many patients muttering about this as it was a very effective medication , and to the best of my knowledge ( I may be wrong ) the evidence on which it was taken off the market , is far from conclusive, and was drawn from people taking higher than recommended doses.....

From what I understand ( and again this may be wrong , but I did hear this on ABC...) is that the evidence that raised concerns came from a study that the Drug company was conducting , to try and expand the range of indications for it's use. Unfortunatley ( from their point of view ) this back fired big time for them and what was a market leader is now of the market .

So what is the end result....

If a company has a successful drug, they will not be conducting any more research on it , just in case they find something they don't want to find. Once there was that doubt raised then purely for legal reasons they had to take it off the market.

Obviously whether this is a good or bad thing depends on your view point....

See Change

Re ...........if we waited until things were perfectly safe.............

we'd be dead. LOL

Re your vioxx story. I think the general public have a very innocent concept of pharmaceuticals. They have a sore back, they want a pill to fix it. The pill may reduce inflammation, but I don't think they realise that the pill may impact other processes in ways that are known and documented and ways that are unknown. If vioxx is perceived unsafe I wonder if it will end up being "dumped" in the third world.

As I write this I am listening to the health report on radio national. There is a report of pharmaceutical studies being skewed, altered ( ommission).

Cheers Bawley

 

[JoannaK]

Hi Bawley,

These are not draconian work conditions at all. Your daughters bosses were being completely responsible and excersising a duty of care the the children, the children's parents and your daughter.

Your daughter works in the childcare industry; ie. looking after little children who's immune systems are immature, under-developed and susceptible to picking up every little tiny bug.

Your daughter's bosses were absolutely 100% correct in doing what they did for they would be irresponsible business owners if they didn't do it.

My daughter was sent home mid afternoon (Monday) from work sick (tonsilitis). She works in childcare. She has to provide a doctor's certificate for every day she is off sick!!!

Went to Dr next am and said she would need a couple of days - he over ruled her and insisted she have the week off (she didn't want this) and when she tried to return to work on the Thursday was sent home again needing CLEARANCE from the Dr.

She goes to a homeopath regularly for treatment and went on the Monday evening. But still had to satisfy the beaurocracy - wasted the Dr's time on Tuesday and her money and medicare fund. Tore up the unwanted script for antibiotics and was quite well enough to return to work on the Thursday. This sceanrio makes me sooooo mad

Do you all have these draconian work conditions??

I understand the need to monitor workers comp. injuries etc, but a couple of days off for sore throat, cold etc., stomach upset - it is inappropriate to be compelled to visit the GP. Also with GP shortage in Canberra it is possible that you only need 1 day off but can't get an appointment for a couple of days

Any strategies for getting around the system???

In health (knock on wood)
Bawley

 

[bawley]

Hi Bawley,

These are not draconian work conditions at all. Your daughters bosses were being completely responsible and excersising a duty of care the the children, the children's parents and your daughter.

Your daughter works in the childcare industry; ie. looking after little children who's immune systems are immature, under-developed and susceptible to picking up every little tiny bug.

Your daughter's bosses were absolutely 100% correct in doing what they did for they would be irresponsible business owners if they didn't do it.

My daughters bosses were just following rules, they have no alternative. I accept that. The rules allow no latitude for common sense. Common sense and judgement gone out the door. She is very responsible and would not compromise her charges.

My point is that she was well enough to go to work on Thursday but needed clearance - another trip to the doctor -because he had given her a certificate for 5 days - she only needed a couple of days. (She innocently explained to him that she had see her homeopath on Monday night and that her tonsils were not sore anymore - Doctor obviously quite miffed and insisted that she would get sick and need the week off - she continued to improve until barely a sniffle after 48 hours .)Is it the aim that people do not return to work until all remnant mucous resolved - this is unrealistic and unworkable. The children have siblings and parents who contract winter ills - should they be quarantined from them?

Cheers
Bawley

 

[Aceyducey]

Personally I reckon that anyone in the child care profession should require a doctor's certificate to go to work every day!

Cheers,

Aceyducey

 

[geoffw]

Personally I reckon that anyone in the child care profession should require a doctor's certificate to go to work every day!

Yes, agreed.

From a psychiatrist.

You'd have to be mad to do that sort of work for that sort of moeny.

 

[bawley]

Yes, agreed.

From a psychiatrist.

You'd have to be mad to do that sort of work for that sort of moeny.

.........Just young, keen and idealistic

She moved out Jan this year and is finding out just how far her salary goes to cover rent and expenses. Is already talking about moving back home next year + partner to save for a house. Because you know she just can't seem to save anything paying rent. (her Navra savings plan is ongoing though, so that's a small blessing)

Funny how you can quietly guide, but the experience itself is the real teacher.

cheers Bawley

 

[Peter Noake]

Minimum Wage

You think $17 per hour is dismal?

I'm living in the USA at the moment. The Federal Minimum Wage here in the US is $5.15 per hour. But for some jobs (mainly in hospitality), employers are not required by Law to pay their employees even minimum wage. Most hospitality workers (servers, bus boys etc) are therefore effectively working for nothing. Keeps your business labour costs low!

Another neat little trick that US employers pull off is to only employ people for 39 hours per week. That way, they are not required by Law to grant workers benefits such as health care, social security (retirement), insurance etc. The law requires these conditions only for full time workers (40hrs per week). Ah yes! The good old mightly USA!

 

[Merovingian]

I'm living in the USA at the moment. The Federal Minimum Wage here in the US is $5.15 per hour.

I've heard that this is a contributing factor to why tips are so relied upon, especially in the catering industry — is this true, or just hearsay?

 

[Aceyducey]

Merovingian,

It's more than heresay.

Service gratuities are a way of allowing guests to distinguish between levels of service provided by different individuals, separate to the fixed prices charged by the operator.

It's rather nifty if you think about it a little.

Cheers,

Aceyducey

 

[geoffw]

In fact, the IRS assumes that people in certain professions receive a certain level of their income in tips- so that if you do mnot tip them, they are still getting taxed on an assumed tip.