Medical Certificates
Why are we so fixated on needing medical certificates?
Medical certificates are possibly (probably?) the worst thing to have when it comes to managing workplace claims. We believe they hinder proactive claim management and do the worker (and employer and ACC) a massive injustice.
Let me explain.
First and foremost, medical certificates are only a legal (legislative) requirement for ACC to pay weekly compensation from day 8 of an accident / claim.
Other than that, there is no legal justification for them unless of course an employer’s employment agreement states it’s a requirement. That is not something we typically see as most employment contracts states “we can request a medical certificate…”.
The reason we do not like them is because there is no substance to them and how they are signed off. Sadly, we still see medical certificates being issued over the phone (which is actually illegal) and there is rarely any consideration given to the work environment, alternative duties, impact on the employer, etc.
Lastly, and perhaps the elephant in the room, most claims are soft tissue (sprains, strains or bruising). When our worker goes to the Doctor / GP, they typically get a referral to a physio… and a medical certificate that states 7 days off.
Those 7 days you the employer pay for albeit at 80%. Some of you may be ok with paying first week payments at 80% although my question would be why?
If the worker is going to end up at the physio, why do we not send them directly to a physio?
Interestingly enough, the answer in most instances is rather all too innocent… “we didn’t realise we could”.
We like physios as a first intervention for four reasons:
They are specifically trained in soft tissue injuries
They focus on the cause rather than the symptoms (pain)
The first visit is a treatment
They cannot issue medical certificates so there is no silly business of prescribing time-off that is not justified or needed.