The line got a huge laugh from the audience, but it was a rueful laugh—it seemed that every HR manager in the audience had an employee who was a patient of Dr. Summeroff.
I thought it was a great lesson in real-world HR—not compliance, not policy, but dealing with Dr. Summeroff.
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I asked a neighbor who’s an internist whether he was a Dr. Summeroff. He said that he’s pretty tough on his patients. He said that what he encounters is not patients asking for a month off, but patients who want to gain a long weekend (e.g., he says to the patient, “You’re OK to return to work Friday,” and the patient says, “How about Monday?”) or patients who are gaming the employer’s system (e.g., want to burn sick days instead of vacation days).
My questions to readers:
- Do you have Dr. Summeroff scenarios you’d be willing to share (no names, dates, or places, of course)?
- Do you have any techniques to suggest for HR managers who receive outrageous doctor’s notes (other than “Grin and bear it”)?
Use the comments link below or e-mail me direct at sbruce@blr.com.
I’ll share your horror stories and coping techniques in a future issue.
Thanks,
Steve
Stephen D. Bruce, PhD, PHR
Editor, HR Daily Advisor, Compensation & Benefits Daily Advisor
Dear Dr. Summeroff – Thank you for your report on Mr. Finagler. If you don’t mind, may I ask you whether your opinion and conclusion would be different if Mr. Finagler was in your employ? Thank you in advance for your response.
I had a doctor’s note that read no sitting, standing, walking, or laying at any angle other than flat for 6 months. Luckily, we had a position where the person could lay in a hospital bed as part of research. He then wrote that it was unsafe for the person to get in the car because it would require a period of sitting, so she couldn’t come to work at all.