Article 30
Verification of Doctor's Statement
30.1(a) When the State requires that an employee who has been absent on sick leave be medically examined by a physician selected by the appointing authority before such employee is allowed to return to work, the appointing authority shall make a reasonable effort to complete the medical examination within 20 working days with the following provisos.
(b) The 20 day period during which the appointing authority has to complete the examination shall include no more than ten days of an employee's advance notice of his/her return to work date. Such notice must include a physician's statement attesting to the employee's fitness and the specified date on which the employee may return to work. For each day of advance notice given, which is less than ten working days from the employee's return to work date, the appointing authority is allowed an additional workday to have the medical examination completed.
(c) If no decision is reached concerning the employee's request to return to duty within 20 workdays as specified in paragraph (a) above, the employee shall be placed on leave with pay without charge to credits until the date such decision is reached and not allowed to return to duty, except that leave with pay shall not be granted where the delay in determining the employee's fitness is caused by the employee's failure to appear for the medical examination or to otherwise cooperate in the scheduling and holding of the examination.
(d) If the physician selected by the appointing authority finds that the employee is not fit for return to duty, the employee shall be placed in the appropriate leave status in accordance with the Attendance Rules as of the date of receipt of the physician's report. Reexaminations by the appointing authority's physician shall not be required more often than once a month and if the appointing authority physician has set a date for reexamination or return to duty, not before such specified date.
(e) The provisions of this Article shall not be construed to require the extension of any employment beyond the time it would otherwise terminate, e.g., under Section 73 of the Civil Service Law.
(f) Employees who are required to submit to a medical examination conducted by a physician selected by the appointing authority shall be considered to be in pay status during the time required for such examination and any necessary travel to and from the site of such examination, and are entitled to be reimbursed for actual and necessary travel costs and meal and lodging costs incurred as a result of travel in connection with such examination. Such reimbursement is to be made in accordance with the Comptroller's Rules and Regulations.
30.2 Local labor/management arrangements may be developed to require the designation of one person in a particular work location or area to receive, on a confidential basis, medical information provided by an employee in support of the use of sick leave credits and to transmit the authorization for the use of such credits back to the employee's immediate supervisor.
30.3 Medical certification forms shall not require an employee's physician, in describing the cause of the employee's absence, to provide more than a brief diagnosis.