Fillable Form Excuse Note

An excuse note or sick note is a kind of letter doctors write to give to their patients. These letters are given to a company’s employers by their employees or a school’s teacher by a student on the occasion that they miss a day or so of work or class due to illness or injury, of which can be anything from a mild virus caught from cold weather, to a fractured arm due to a car accident while on the road. If an employee will need to take several more days off to recover, then they may submit an excuse note to work, which is meant to authorize the employee to not be required to go to work for a certain amount of time, depending on the doctor’s analysis of them. Employers may ask of a sick note from the employee as evidence of whatever illness or injury was afflicting them at the time, as soon as they come back to work. Companies usually have their own policies regarding requesting sick notes from employees. Some may always require these notes whenever an employee gets sick, and may do so under the law so long as this does not infringe on the employee’s rights to privacy and freedom from discrimination.

In the same vein, schools also have their own rules regarding these sick notes. More often than not, however, students will be required to submit a valid excuse note to excuse themselves from the day or days prior that they were not present in class. Unlike companies, schools can be a bit more stricter in requesting for sick notes for a multitude of reasons:

1. To prove that the student was not simply cutting classes, and was truly sick. It is not uncommon for students to fake illness to avoid having to come to class during the due date of a big project or a test.

2. For documentation purposes. An excuse note for school can be used to determine how much they might need to pay attention to a student if an illness might seem suspicious, but it can also be used to watch out for any sudden health issues that a recovering student might show.

3. Related to number two, the notes may be passed on to the school clinic (If the school has one) to assist the student, should they show any signs of needing medical assistance and be sent to the clinic by a teacher.

An excuse note can only be written for you by your doctor.

An excuse note would only state the date and time that the named employee was examined, and list how many days that the employee is to be kept from work due to illness or injury. Not much can be added due to the risk of violating the employee’s confidentiality. If the employer seeks to find out whether the employee is at risk of spreading whatever disease is afflicting them, they can ask for the employee to have their doctor write “contagious” or “not contagious”, however, the employer must also prove that this information is a necessity for their business (Such as if the employee’s position involves personally handling customers or other people.).

Aside from the excuse note excusing you to miss work, it can be used for a large number of other things too:

1. To verify your fitness and ability to play sports. Many schools have a physical exam which students are required to pass if they intend to play an active sport such as basketball, football, or volleyball. Varsity teams may do the same before accepting you in whatever sport they play to ensure that your body can handle the stress that comes with daily training.

2. To verify your fitness for work. Certain jobs, especially those that demand a lot of physical activity in your body, may ask that a person passes a physical examination and get a “fit for work” judgement from a doctor to perform work, as these types of jobs may involve hard labor and be strenuous for the body to perform.

3. To verify your ability to perform certain tasks when applying for something where a document of such may be needed. For example, one of the documents that may be needed to receive a valid and legal driver’s license is an excuse note that verifies that the applicant is fit for driving vehicles, as he passes the eye exam.

4. To authorize travel, especially if it’s in a foreign country. Depending on where you travel, disease may be a problem and may get you questioned upon landing on your desired country. In extreme cases, you may even be quarantined if the airport’s staff suspects that you may be carrying a dangerous disease.

5. To limit the kind of jobs you are required to do if you have a disability. Sometimes, a person may be physically incapable of performing a certain task or job at work. If so, the employer may require the employee to show an excuse note as proof of their condition, and to excuse them from doing said task.

6. To obtain certain health benefits from an employer.

7. To make an insurance claim.

You will only need an excuse note to miss work if your company absolutely requires that you have one whenever you take a day or so off to recover. Many do not require a sick note if you miss a single day, but may require an absence letter written by you. If you are not present for multiple days, they may ask for an excuse note for documentation purposes. Meanwhile, if you have an injury that might require special accommodations at where you are employed, you may also need a physician who can document your needs in a letter to your employer, alongside your excuse note. It mostly depends on the company’s policy.

Some illnesses or injuries are visible enough that the employer can immediately tell that there is obviously something wrong with the employee, and so won’t immediately ask for an excuse note (Although they may insist on it later for documentation purposes). On the other hand, an employer can be skeptical of their employees and their sick notes, such as if they take a break to recover on the same day/s that they asked to have a vacation and were denied.

If any person that isn’t your doctor writes an excuse note for you so that you may skip class or take a day off from work, then it is not a legitimate note, and therefore, illegal. Forging an excuse note is completely against the law, and can land you in a lot of legal trouble. If caught, getting fired from your job will be the least of your worries, as your company can also take legal action against you for forgery! For schools, students caught in the fact may be penalized with suspensions or even expulsions depending on their rules.. In the U.S., being caught committing forgery is punishable by jail time and fines. This might be the case for employees whose employers pursued legal action for attempting to deceive them. In the aftermath, you may be left jobless with a criminal record, thus further reducing your chances for job options. It is not recommended to ever attempt forgery.

-Depending on the country or state, it might not actually be illegal for a company to refuse sick notes, such as if a country or state has no laws regarding excuse note. However, it is illegal for a company to not accept a note when the employee requires medical care, and is using the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to take time off. The FMLA grants employees immunity from being fired by an employer for 12 weeks to enable them to work on receiving their medical needs. An example of an employee eligible for the FMLA is a working woman who has given birth to a child, and thus must care for them.

-You can still be fired even if you have complied with company policy of providing an excuse note while sick. Some employers may do this if an employee has been taking too many sick leaves, and thus impacting the efficiency of the whole company for quite some time. The employer can thus fire the employee in this case due to the employee not performing as required, but it is also possible for the employee to retaliate by taking legal action against their employer. However, the employer can not use the sick note as reasoning to fire the employee.

-Employees are under no obligation to give out the nature of their illness or injury to their employers. Employees can make a discrimination claim if their employer tries to force them to state it. Though, if the employee’s absence becomes long enough, or their situation becomes more dire, then the employer may be allowed to have the employee provide more detailed information about their illness or injury.

-If a company’s policy requires that their employees provide sick notes, then this policy must apply uniformly to all employees of the company.