Our communication to an employee should not be to get a doctor's notice proving they need medical leave, but a doctor's authorization when they can return and at what capacity.
And for my brothers and sisters in Cali, this went into affect this year.
(e) An employer is not required to provide additional paid sick days pursuant to this section if the employer has a paid leave policy or paid time off policy, the employer makes available an amount of leave applicable to employees that may be used for the same purposes and under the same conditions as specified in this section, and the policy satisfied one of the following:
(1) Satisfies the accrual, carry over, and use requirements of this section.
(2) Provided paid sick leave or paid time off to a class of employees before January 1, 2015, pursuant to a sick leave policy or paid time off policy that used an accrual method different than providing one hour per 30 hours worked, provided that the accrual is on a regular basis so that an employee, including an employee hired into that class after January 1, 2015, has no less than one day or eight hours of accrued sick leave or paid time off within three months of employment of each calendar year, or each 12-month period, and the employee was eligible to earn at least three days or 24 hours of sick leave or paid time off within nine months of employment.
The law also says employees accrue PTO hours upon hire but you do not have to pay them until after 90 days.
Check your state for mandatory accrual PTO laws and "Use it or lose it" policies.
http://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/Paid_Sick_Leave.htm
