Introduced in April 2010 to replace the sick note, the fit note gives evidence of your fitness to work. You only require a fit note if you are absent from work for more than seven days (including weekends), otherwise you can self-certify your sick leave.
Issuing the fit note
Your fit note will either be hand written or printed out from a computer.
The fit note is a record of advice from your doctor. It is not legally binding for you or your employer.
Fit notes are mainly issued by GPs. If you are receiving treatment in hospital, your fit note will be issued by a hospital doctor.
As of April 2010, the sick note was replaced by the fit note (a statement which identifies the type of work than can be carried out with appropriate support). This signalled a shift in emphasis from how long an employee cannot be or must not be at work to providing more useful information on how a person’s condition affects what they do and how they might be able to return to work. GPs now give a 'may be fit for work' statement if they think that someone’s health condition may allow them to work - as long as they are provided with the right support. This support could be a phased or graduated return to work as well as the ‘reasonable adjustments’.
The 6th National General Practitioner Worklife Survey found that almost 90% of respondents felt they had a proactive role to play in helping patients to stay in or return to work and two thirds agreed they had a responsibility to society to facilitate a return to work. The survey found that the fit note helped GPs to improve the quality of discussion with their patients about returning to work and had helped patients make a phased return to work.
GPs can help their patient’s to play an active role in this process by ensuring that they discuss the occupational health provision (if any) in the workplace and the level and quality of support that is actually in place at work and outside. It might be worth asking your patient and the employer about the policies and practices of the organisation as well as the level of expertise and training of the line managers as appropriate.
A key shift in the mindset that the fit note brings is that sickness absence is in effect an intervention; it needs to be applied carefully, reviewed regularly and be a part of a broader treatment plan. Like any intervention, it is not a ‘cost free’ option; it may have side effects which are detrimental to the employee.