Have you ever wondered what happens when you have to go to the family doctor or a specialist doctor during work hours? How does that time affect your work day with the company? Do I have the right to go? Should I request appointments outside of my working hours? Do I have to make up those hours?
We will analyze this situation from a eminently legal prism, generating rights and obligations. But before starting, we must differentiate between paid and unpaid leave:
- The paid leave They are those that are included in the applicable collective agreement, or failing that, in article 37.3 of the Workers' Statute, and the worker may be absent, with rights to remuneration and without having to make up said time.
- The unpaid leave They are those that include all those cases that are not included in the previous point and that, therefore, the company is not obliged to consider as effective working time; Consequently, all the time is used must be recovered later by the worker or deducted from the payroll.
Therefore, if the applicable collective agreement includes paid leave, among others, attending the family doctor, accompanying a family member to the doctor, performing an x-ray, going to the specialist doctor, etc., The worker will be able to attend these appointments, this time being paid and without having to recover the time invested.
On the other hand, it often happens that the applicable collective agreement does not include this permission to go to the doctor, so we find ourselves in the case that the first thing the worker must do is notify the company of the appointment and, then, You must provide the necessary documentation so that the absence is not declared unjustified and avoid receiving a penalty from the company. Subsequently, The worker may regularize this situation by recovering the hours he has missed or request that it be deducted from the payroll.
The company is not obliged to pay these hours to the worker, as they have not provided services (and do not have paid leave).
And what happens if I have to go to rehab weekly?
If the agreement does not include paid leave, the worker must return said hours, or deduct them from the payroll. The situation is different if the worker is on medical leave, he will not have to return any hours.
How can I agree with the company to recognize my doctor's attendance as paid leave?
The worker, on an individual basis, can agree in his employment contract to consider the possibility of seeing a doctor as paid leave, even if the collective agreement does not include it; both parties must agree.
Another scenario is that the company has granted, over time, the possibility of going to the doctor without having to recover those hours later. In this case, we would be faced with a more beneficial collective condition, and all the company's workers would acquire the same right.
And finally, what permission do I have to take my child to the doctor?
In line with the above and following the above reasoning, accompanying a child to the doctor is not a cause for paid leave, unless the applicable collective agreement indicates otherwise.
This issue was debated in the courts until finally the Supreme Court ruled that the duty to accompany children to the doctor falls within family and care obligations that are not of a public nature, so they cannot be considered included. within the paid leave for the fulfillment of an inexcusable duty of a public and personal nature (TS 9-12-20)
Finally, it should be noted that any medical absence justified with the corresponding medical leave report issued by the General Physician is cause for suspension of the contract and reservation of the job, until the corresponding medical discharge, and therefore, it would not be paid or unpaid leave applies.
It is important, therefore, to know in detail the collective agreement that governs your employment contract and to always have good communication with the company.
