If someone is signed off sick, when should they be contacted and does it matter why?

We have had some forceful objections lately from staff who have said (for instance) ‘Look, I have bronchitis and I am signed off for a week to rest. Unless the office is burning down, I don’t see why you need to call me’ and from some who have observed that since they don’t have the files or any papers at home, they could not be of much help even if they wished to be.

Supotco