How you can BUY your next sick day without going to the doctor: Chemists now offer $20 medical certificates – and they're being handed out 'like headache tablets'
- Pharmacy chains across Australia are offering sick notes - for a $20 fee
- The Fair Work Act 2009 made the convenience perfectly legal in Australia
- The service has been advertise at one Chemist Warehouse outlet for over a year
Sometimes the hardest part of being sick is making your way to the doctor.
But a service available from major Australian pharmacies allows doctor's appointments to be bypassed when under-the-weather workers are in need of a sick note.
The aptly named 'absence from work' forms are available at nationwide pharmacy chains and are perfectly legal under the Fair Work Act 2009.
In fact, a Chemist Warehouse outlet in Sydney's CBD has advertised the availability of the sick notes on a colourful sign for over a year.
The legal and accessible service is available in pharmacies across Australia. The 'absence from work certificates' have been advertised in a Sydney pharmacy for over a year
According to news.com.au, concerned employers are worried the easily-accessible certificates are being handed out 'like headache tablets' without the same checks and balances provided by qualified GPs.
A spokesperson for the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia said pharmacists are 'entitled to charge for issuing a certificate.'
They also noted that the advertised charge of $20 is in line with the law saying 'the fee should reflect the consultation period and other business infrastructure costs.'
Despite the easy accessibility the service provides for sick and time-poor workers, Innes Willox, Chief Executive of employer organisation the Australian Industry Group told news.com.au bosses still might be wary to accept a note from a pharmacy.
'Pharmacists are not doctors and the Fair Work Act makes no reference to them being appropriately qualified to issue medical certificates for the purposes of personal/carer's leave entitlements,' Mr Willox told the publication.
Although many employers don't require a sick note for less than three days off, they do have the legal right to request one.
According to the Fair Work Ombudsman, 'an employee who doesn't give their employer evidence when asked may not be entitled to be paid for their sick or carer’s leave.'
A spokesperson for the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia said pharmacists are 'entitled to charge for issuing a certificate' which at Chemist Warehouse in Sydney's CBD is $20
Dr Tony Bartone, Vice President of the Australian Medical Association, said he recommends patients consult their general practitioner if they are feeling too ill to work, rather than see a pharmacist.
'The combination of symptoms which prevented a patient from attending work might seem innocuous, but it could be the beginning of something more severe,' Dr Bartone told Daily Mail Australia.
'It makes more sense to see your family GP. It's about a continuity of care, an ongoing clinical relationship, which goes to informing and providing future care,' Dr Bartone said.
Pharmacists have been allowed to issue certificates for absence from work since the passing of the Fair Work Act in 2009, a spokesperson for the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia said
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