3-02/040.18 - Medical Certification or Doctor's Note



A supervisor shall not ask an employee for medical certification or doctor’s note while the employee is utilizing the calendar year’s Protected Sick Leave/Kin Care Leave time (see MPP 3-02/040.20, Kin Care).  However, a supervisor may ask an employee for a medical certification or doctor’s note from a licensed physician or from any health care provider as defined under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), for their own medical or psychological condition, on the first subsequent day of absence during a calendar year where the employee has already exhausted their maximum Protected Sick Leave/Kin Care Leave time.  Any request for a doctor’s note must comply with the medical privacy rights of the employee, including no mention of diagnosis, prognosis or anything that would lead to the understanding of what is the diagnosis or prognosis.  Medical certification and doctor’s notes must be kept in a separate medical file.

NOTE: Medical Certification or Doctor’s note is defined as a written note, email, or stamped document.

  • NOTE:  A “health care provider” is defined under FMLA as a doctor of medicine or osteopathy who is authorized to practice medicine or surgery by the state in which the doctor practices; or any other person determined by the Secretary of Labor to be “capable of providing health care services.”
  • NOTE:  Medical certification required for a leave of absence is covered under MPP sections 3-02/030.20, Pregnancy Disability Leave (PDL); 3-02/030.21, Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA); 3-02/030.25, Industrial Injury or Illness Leave; and 3-02/030.30, Bereavement Leave.