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Sick days were a regular occurrence for Jennifer.  Never more than three days off at one time and always falling at inconvenient times for Martin.  Martin had become suspicious a while ago and expected an improvement when Jennifer exhausted her statutory sick days.  But the practice continued.  What could Martin do?

Dismissal was not an option
Martin's first reaction was simply to give Jennifer the boot, but he knew that if he did that without any evidence that she wasn't really sick, then he could expect to be sued for unjustified dismissal.  Jennifer had cost him enough money already, both in terms of paid sick days, but also in lost productivity.  He didn't need any further expense.  The loss of productivity would continue unless Martin could put a stop to her behaviour.  So he adopted a simple strategy to level the playing field.

First ask for a medical certificate
His first strategy was to ask for a medical certificate each time she went off sick.  Normally medical certificates are only required where an employee is sick for three or more consecutive days, and it doesn't matter whether those days are working days or not. That means that if an employee is sick on a Friday and a Monday (the long weekend sickness), you can still ask for a certificate.
However, the Holidays Act also says that you can ask for a certificate where you have reasonable grounds to believe that the sickness is not genuine. Reasonable grounds may include where there is a pattern of sickness (as in Jennifer's case) or whether sickness was taken on a day which the employee had previously requested as holiday but that  request was later refused.  In those cases you must tell the employee as soon as possible that a certificate is required and agree to meet their reasonable costs in getting it.

The certificate looks fake
Employees have been known to fake medical certificates, so it is important to check its validity. The best way to do this is to fax the certificate to the doctor and get him/her to verify it's authenticity. You have no obligation to accept a photocopy and the doctor cannot rely on the Privacy Act to avoid confirming the certificate's veracity.

You are also entitled to question the doctor to clarify the accuracy and certainty of the statements made in it. This is particularly the case where the doctor has examined the patient after the illness has occurred (a retrospective certificate).  One of the difficulties with many certificates is that they rely on self reporting, i.e. the doctor's assessment is based solely on what the patient has told him/her, without any objective clinical assessment.  A proper medical certificate should identify what conclusions are based upon self reporting and which are based upon clinical observation.  If the certificate is vague, then clarify this.  A retrospective certificate should say so.  Again, if it is vague, clarify this with the doctor.