[Question] Fraud on Medical certificates

[Fitness freak]

Do anyone know what is the right wording for a employee changes the dates on his medical certificate

We phoned the doctor and he only gave him one day of but the employee change the date to 3 days.
He never phoned in to let us know he is not coming in to work
the doctor will give us a report with the right dates on his certificate

What is the right way to handle this matter it is the first time I have to deal with this sort of problem

Normally it only bad time keeping

thanks

[tec0]

Do anyone know what is the right wording for a employee changes the dates on his medical certificate

It is illegal. If the date was wrong only the doctor may correct it. If the doctor doesn’t know about it then you can consider it as “falsifying documents” I recommend you get a lawyer to tell you exactly what you can do and to give you advice on what can be done.

[Jacob Zuma]

If you have a policy against such things you do not need a lwayer. Just follow the policy. The is "misrepresentation" and depending on the severity it is a dismissable offence.

a warning to everone: Please put your company policies and procedure in place so that employees know exactly what the policy is surrounding issues within the workplace.

[Fitness freak]

Where does it stop

the normal summery of act is on a board in the tearoom
but nothing is mentioned about fraudulent your medical certificate.

[Dave A]

Falsifying the medical certificate is a clear act of fraud. What needs to be established now is purpose.

Once you have established that the certificate was indeed changed, the next question in the disciplinary enquiry is "why?" Exactly what disciplinary action you should take is going to be pretty dependant on the answer.

[tec0]

That is truly a commendable answer Dave.

Finding out why the person did it? Well normally I would just escalate without giving a second thought about the scenario. Perhaps I am too inhuman, what is needed here is an inquiry to establish motive and if you feel that the severity is not worthy of action just a written warning may be enough...

A degree of leniency perhaps?

Like you said it all comes down to the answer.

cool stuff.

[Morticia]

Dave, sorry if I sound like a dragon lady, but quite frankly, if I employ a person who "changes" a medical certificate, my next question will be what else can this person "change"? Fraud is fraud, a variation of the degree thereof should be of no consequence. Far too many white-collar crimes start with something a simple as changing the date on a medical certificate.

[Dave A]

My original thought was "intent is relevant." But your point is well made, Morticia - there is also an issue of integrity here. My counter would be, not all positions require impeccable integrity (although it's always preferable).

Maybe I should add this, then:

Exactly what disciplinary action you should take is also going to be dependent on the person's position and role in the company.

Ultimately I would think the decision is between immediate dismissal and final written warning. Does the person deserve a second chance? Can the company afford to give this person a second chance?

[tec0]

Fact is you need to investigate, look at the severity and plan for training of another person to take this person’s place if you are planning to dismiss that person. Most important of all back track all documents and dealings done by this person. Make sure there is no other damage.

[Fitness freak]

The way I feel is to dismiss him
But I phoned the RMI and they suggest that he must get a final written warning
Apparently in court it will not been seen as bad as fraud.

This employee received his notice for the disciplinary hearing on Friday and didn't sign it and yesterday again he stayed out of work

I've got the feeling I will not see him again.

[sterne.law@gmail.com]

The charge is Dishonesty - in that on 3 December you intentionally and fraudently falsified a medical certificate. This can bea dismissable offecne, even first time around (after hearing)

[Suu]

You may be seeing them at the CCMA soon. We ignored an employee whom stayed away without alerting us , this happened more than once and they also did not perform and had few written warnigns in their name. We are now having to meet them at CCMA. Guess what claim they have : Unfair labour practise - reason for not coming to work regularly .

CCMA normally looks in the interest of the employee regardless of how wrong they have been. Be carefull and consult with experts before making any decision but a final written warning sound enough but fraud is normally a dismissable offence. But we can always ask to what degree and the aprty involved.

[BBBEE_CompSpec]

CCMA is a neutral body that weighs up evidence before it. If you are completely in line with all labour legislation, Follow a correct disciplinary and grievance process, keep to working standards and precedents, and have good reasons for dismissals, the CCMA will then consider the stronger evidence before it. Good practices in Employee Absenteeism has a lengthy process that not many businesses are aware of. I am up in Birchleigh having treatment for cancer. I will gladly come to your company and give you a few tips on how to handle situations similar to this in future. Please note I do not charge for advice.

[BBBEE_CompSpec]

According to Schedule 8 of The Labour Relations Act, Fraud can carry both a Final written Warning and/or Dismissal.

[BBBEE_CompSpec]

The charge is wrong. Make sure you have the correct info from the start. This can be construed as an incorrect procedure before you even have the hearing.