MDH: Don’t require sick employees to obtain doctor’s note

(Mankato, MN) – The Minnesota Department of Health is asking that employers not require sick workers to validate their illness.

In a message to local media Thursday, Mankato Clinic said providers were being “inundated with requests for medical notes to employers.”

Mankato Clinic requested that businesses and employers follow recommendations from MDH and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to allow healthcare providers to focus on care right now.

Recommendations:

• Don’t require a note for employees who are sick with acute respiratory illness to validate their illness or to return to work.
• Require employees to stay home when they are sick.  This is a fundamental way to stop the spread of the virus.
• Do not require a note excusing employees with underlying health conditions from going to work.
• Allow as many people to work from home as possible.