I have been out from work this week on personal issues, but now my employer is requiring a note from a doctor. If the note is not legitimate can they actually find that out by calling your doctor or isn't it illegal for a doctor or the nurse to give out your medical information without your consent?
2006-06-23 04:23:48 · 15 answers · asked by kt_scarlett7 1 in Business & Finance ➔ Careers & Employment
Of course. The note should contain the doctor's name, telephone number and what not, and any employer, if they care, can call up the doctor and verify the appointment.
Doctor won't be giving out your medical information, just answer a simple yes/no question on whether you've been in his office at that specific day/time.
2006-06-23 04:27:17 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
The doctor's office can't give out any information without your written consent and will generally not do that unless everything is in writing to begin with. In other words, your doctor or anyone for that matter shouldn't be giving out info over the phone.
Most employers won't go through all that trouble. That doesn't mean your employer can't try. I don't think there is any law covering that. You might run into trouble if the doctor puts 2 and 2 together and finds out you forged a signature or something and you could theoretically face criminal charges if a doctors office reports it. Or you could get the person who gave you the note in trouble as well if it wasn't with the doctor's consent!
Your employer, although probably not breaking any laws, is risking liability if you should suffer some ill consequence from his/her contacting the doctor but you would have a hard time in court if the note in question was in fact a forgery. The employer would only have to prove he had a legitimate concern and again the law doesn't forbid him from calling only governs the doctors from giving info out!
2006-06-23 04:39:19 · answer #2 · answered by Sam B 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
working at a high school, we deal with this issue all the time.
Your employer can not ask WHY you were at the doctor's office, but they are allowed to call the doctor and see if you were there.
If they find out the note is forged, most doctors will have the employer (or school in our case) fax a copy of the note. Then, sometimes depending on the doctor, they can file forgery charges.
So just make sure you know that there are legal reprocussions to forging doctors notes!
2006-06-23 04:29:25 · answer #3 · answered by Katie Victoria 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
yes. they can as far as check to the legitimacy of the note. in the first place, when you gave the note, it's a way of giving them authority to check. although they cannot question your medical condition as dictated by the HIPAA regulations, they can at least verify the authenticity of the note you submit. why are you giving a false document anyway?
what exactly did you tell your employer about your reasons for not coming to work, though? do you not have any personal time off or vacation days that you could have taken? i would not attempt to give a falsified document as it may cause you to lose your job. you may also end up being AWOL if you cannot properly justify your absence.
if taking off from work was that easy, and you did not need any reasonable explanation for absences of a certain length of time, then everyone would just skip work and go AWOL all the time.
2006-06-23 05:45:35 · answer #4 · answered by Q&A Monster 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The doctor's note is usually written on the doctor's letterhead and so shouldn't be questioned.
If you turned in a fake note, then the employer might be wondering of course.
2006-06-23 04:30:55 · answer #5 · answered by neona807 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is not illegal for a Doctor's office to say whether you have been there, it is illegal for them to tell anyone but you what you were there for.
Also, the Doctor's note is often on a pre-printed prescription chit, so unless you stole one from the Doctor I doubt your employer will believe it.
Your best bet is to tell your employer the truth; in fact in the future if you have personal issues, just tell your employer that you are away because of personal issues; if they catch you a lie then chances are you will be in a heap of trouble.
2006-06-23 04:30:05 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The employer can call the doctor's office and ask if they did write the note, if they suspect you are submitting false documents. Under HIPPA regulations they cannot know details of your medical conditions.
You will be fired for sure if they find out you are falsifying a document.
2006-06-23 04:35:07 · answer #7 · answered by BluedogGirl 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They cant give out medical information without your consent.
But if you turn in a fake note and they call the Dr's office,they can tell them if you had an appointment on that date or not.
2006-06-23 04:28:07 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
They have the right to ask you for the Doctors note. They can call to check on the status of it once you have given it to them. If it is bogus, you need to be up-front. They already knew you had a personal issue otherwise they would not have asked for the note. Try being honest with them-it might just work out.
2006-06-23 04:46:25 · answer #9 · answered by educated guess 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes. You've given them the right to verify the validity of the note when you submitted it to them. The Doctors cannot tell them why you were out of work though.
2006-06-23 04:28:42 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋