Pulling a Sickie for the Sports Club

In recent years it has become increasingly “fashionable” to obtain a doctor’s sick note when one – for whatever reasons – does not want to go to work. Many employees do not want to take a day’s holiday for private activities and therefore submit the infamous “yellow sick note”. To shed light on the behaviour of such an offender, the detectives of Kurtz Detective Agency Bochum are your first point of contact: +49 234 3075 0073.

Because an Important League Match Was Due …

The most frequent reason for submitting a false sick note among men, alongside sheer laziness and undeclared work, is not the child’s first day at school or a similarly important life event, but sport in all its facets. Whether Tommy Haas is in the Wimbledon final, Sebastian Vettel is one victory away from the F1 world championship, or your beloved football club is in the Champions League final, playing a derby or merely has an ordinary matchday – sport is one of the main reasons for absences. In our experience at times of the European and World Football Championships there is a particularly high incidence of sickness notifications, since employers repeatedly approach us suspecting an employee would rather enjoy public viewing in a beer tent than turn up for work – and in most cases the employers’ suspicions prove correct.

 

Private sporting activities are also sometimes pursued during periods of certified incapacity for work, whether a match in a regional or district league – in football as in tennis – or a motocross race in which the employee can show off their new bike. Sport evidently matters more to many than the workplace, and when the schedules clash the priorities are all too often unlawfully and clearly set against the employer’s interest.

A Footballer Lying in Pain on the Pitch; Detective Bochum | Kurtz Detective Agency Bochum, Employee Screening Bochum

From an insurance and criminal-law perspective it can become very uncomfortable if a serious injury is suffered during sporting activity in a period of certified incapacity to work.

Sometimes the Shirker Is Even the Team Coach

In recent years Kurtz Detective Agency Bochum has handled two cases in which the feigning of illness was not carried out by a player but by the coaches of football teams. These gentlemen did not exactly do justice to their role-model function; preaching commitment, will and loyalty while themselves skiving from work is a clear failure of professional standards.

 

If you suspect that one of your employees is not conserving their strength during a period of sickness but is instead engaging in other activities, contact our corporate investigators in Bochum: +49 234 3075 0073. We will conduct surveillance of the offender and provide you with comprehensive, court-admissible material.