The death of the sick note

Anyone who has been off sick recently or had to deal with an employee returning to work will have noticed that, as from this month, sick notes have been replaced by fit notes. Will this initiative achieve the Government’s aim of reducing the estimated 172 million working days lost to sickness each year, and saving £250 million over 10 years?

Whilst the purpose of the fit note is still to provide evidence of illness after seven or more consecutive days’ absence, its further aim is to help sick workers either stay in work or get back to work more quickly. The fit note obliges doctors to advise on whether the employee is ‘not fit for work’ or whether he or she ‘may be fit for work’.  Where a doctor declares someone as ‘may be fit for work', the fit note allows him or her to put forward suggestions which can include a phased return to work, altered hours, amended duties (such as no heavy lifting for someone with a back injury) and changes to the workplace. 

Whilst the old sick notes were notoriously uninformative and frequently made it even more difficult for employers to facilitate an employee’s return to work, it is hard to see that fit notes will improve the situation significantly but it may prove to be a step in the right direction for employers. This is because, in the vast majority of cases, a GP simply won’t have sufficient time or knowledge of the employee’s role to make a reliable assessment of how the illness or injury might affect his or her ability to do the job.

The main problem is the extent of knowledge required by the GP to give well-informed recommendations. Additionally, there is nothing to compel either party to act on the doctor’s recommendations. The new arrangements do not affect the payment of Statutory Sick Pay, even where a doctor advises that a patient may be fit for work but the employee and employer agree to continue sick leave.  But where a GP recommends that an employee may be fit for work on the basis of, say, a phased return, this at least provides the employer with a legitimate expectation that the employee will return to work if the GP’s recommendations are adhered to.  Where an employee fails to comply with GP recommendations without the consent of the employer, employers would be advised to cover this situation in any contractual or policy provisions on sick leave and treat this as unauthorised absence.    

If you require any more information on fit notes or any other area of employment law, please contact Caroline Banwell on 01223 417287

The information given in this article is of a general nature only and should not be considered as advice applicable to any particular situation for which specific request should be made to us.

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