Public Service Worker Fakes Medical Certificates to Take Sick Leave 30 Times Due to Reluctance to Go to Work

"Don't Want to Go to Work" Sick Leave Applied with Date Alteration
Mr. A Claims "Not Forgery Since Not Printed"
Court Rebuttal: "Knew It Was Signed After Printing"

Seoul Eastern District Court

A social service worker who forged medical certificates to take sick leave dozens of times to avoid going to work was sentenced to a suspended prison term in the first trial.

According to Yonhap News on the 6th, "Judge Seo Bo-min of the Seoul Eastern District Court Criminal Division 11 sentenced a man in his 20s, identified as A, who was charged with forgery of private documents and use of forged private documents, to six months in prison with a two-year suspension and 200 hours of community service on the 21st of last month."

A, a social service worker, had used all his sick leave but altered the dates on medical certificates to avoid going to work and submitted them to the district office. In October 2022, at his home in Songpa-gu, Seoul, he scanned a medical certificate issued on January 24, 2022, and changed the dates of the diagnosis and issuance. He then sent the altered document along with an absence excuse letter to the social service management officer's email. Using this method, A received approval for sick leave a total of 30 times over more than a year until November of last year.

During the trial, A claimed, "I only created the medical certificate file through scanning and did not print it out, so it is not 'forgery'." However, the court ruled that "A knew that as a social service worker, when he sent the medical certificate and absence excuse files, the person in charge would print them out, stamp them, and keep them," and thus found him guilty. The court explained the sentencing by stating, "Considering that the defendant admitted his wrongdoing and has no prior criminal record, among other factors."

Meanwhile, sick leave is a type of leave applied for when one is unable to perform duties due to illness. According to Article 23 (Sick Leave) of the Social Service Management Regulations, social service workers can use sick leave by submitting one of the following: a medical certificate, prescription, or medical opinion letter.