If you make your sick employee show up, just be aware that they will in fact... be sick. 

Unlike the United States, Germany is quite lenient when it comes to things like sick days, and paid time off. In fact, Germans have no limit to the number of sick days they can take in a year, something that was true even 15 years ago when this German coal miner apprentice's story takes place. While working in the mine as a young man, the mine's tough boss decided to crack down on what he thought was a trend of workers lying about sick days; despite the illegality of doing so. As a result, he took advantage of his uninformed young workforce, and demanded every sick day be accompanied with a doctor's note handed to him in person.

So when the apprentice actually did come down with a stomach virus, it was off to the doctor's office, and then on to the boss's. However, the young man stumbled upon his boss in the middle of a meeting with upper management. Encouraged by his boss to introduce himself and shake the hands of the higher-ups, he quickly realized he had an opportunity to do something hilarious. Needless to say, none of the higher-ups were happy when they discovered the real reason for his visit to the boss's office.