Will changes to the UK’s ‘fit note’ system affect your sick leave policy?

How does your company keep track of employee sickness? For some firms, receiving an email from an unwell employee is enough. But if a person is ill for a prolonged period of time, you may want official confirmation from a medical professional in the form of a fit note.

If your business has UK-based employees, the law on fit notes is changing – and it could impact your company sick leave policy. Read on to learn more about the latest legal update.

What is a fit note?

A fit note is a document issued by medical professionals when someone has an illness or health condition that impacts their ability to do their job. The system was first introduced in the 1940s, known originally as sick notes before being rebranded to fit notes in 2008.

A fit note can be used to officially sign someone off work due to their health, or to support their return to work following a period of illness or injury. For example, a fit note may recommend that someone adjusts their hours as they recover, or that they take on different duties that are more suitable for their current physical and mental health status.

A fit note can also be used to recommend adaptations to the workplace to make is safer for someone with specialist health requirements. The government guide to fit notes provides full details on exactly what they contain.

Why do some employers insist on fit notes?

It’s not compulsory for employees to present a medical fit note for every single absence. If someone needs to take a couple of days off to recover from the flu or a sick bug, for example, notifying their line manager or HR by email and/or telephone is usually sufficient (a process known as self-certification). In fact, medical professionals cannot legally provide a fit note during the first seven calendar days of an employee’s absence.

If someone has a severe or long-term condition that results in longer periods of absence, however, a fit note can help your business to support that employee effectively. For instance, if they have been signed off work for a month, you can give them time to recover before contacting them as their absence period nears its end to discuss their return to work.

Fit notes are also helpful evidence for validating sick pay procedures. And having formal documentation from a health professional can often help people get back to work quicker, as you can adapt their hours or workload as they continue recovery.

How has fit note legislation changed in the UK?

While the fit note system is well established, companies may not be aware of recent changes to its structure and execution. On July 1st 2022, new UK legislation came into force permitting a wider range of healthcare practitioners to write fit notes for employees.

Fit notes can now be issued by nurses, pharmacists, physiotherapists and occupational therapists, as well as by doctors. And a physical signature is no longer required; healthcare professionals can now create digital copies of the form and the document is still legally valid.

These changes to fit notes are designed to relieve the pressure on GPs and hospital specialists, as well as moving the healthcare system towards paperless practices. And they should make it easier for employees to present a fit note if your company asks for official evidence. However, you may need to update your sick leave policy as a result of the legislation changes.

How will the new fit note legislation affect your sick leave policy?

Any change in HR law is a good opportunity to review your company policies – the fit note system is no exception. If your business has a sick leave policy in place, you may need to update the wording to confirm that an employee can provide a fit note from their nurse, OT, physio or pharmacist, as well as their doctor.

You may even wish to outline the circumstances under which certain fit notes are acceptable. For example, while shorter absences can be signed off by any approved medical professional, you may want to insist on a doctor certified fit note for longer periods of absence.

If your company doesn’t currently have a sick leave policy, now is a good time to put one in place. Formalising your framework allows your firm to keep track of authorised versus unauthorised absences, so you can pursue disciplinary action if an employee is taking liberties with time off.

Introducing a company sickness policy also enables you to create initiatives that support workplace wellbeing – for example, requiring people to work from home if they’ve got a cold, to stop them spreading it to their colleagues. And you can use your sick leave policy to outline sick pay procedures; some firms choose to offer enhanced terms, whereas others only offer statutory sick pay.

Could changes to the fit note system lead to higher staff absences?

While new fit note procedures are being welcomed by healthcare professionals, some company leaders worry that they could cause an increase in employee absences. If it’s easier to get hold of professional certification, surely more people will try and take time off?

In theory, the answer is yes – but most employees care about their job and will only take sick leave in times of genuine need. Plus, there are ways that your company can track staff sick leave to establish any concerning patterns of absence.

At present, many companies have an employee holiday calendar for monitoring annual leave, but don’t track other types of time off. Moving your HR online and using a staff management system to capture all forms of staff leave – including sickness – builds a fuller pattern of employee behaviour.

By uploading copies of employee fit notes to a central system, you can check that all absences are authorised and follow up on any unusual or suspicious patterns.

And if a team member is suffering from genuine health problems that affect their ability to do their job, you can use your online staff management system to adjust their daily tasks and working patterns, and to diarise regular catch ups to support their long-term wellbeing.

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