New arrangements for employee sick leave
Posted by admin in Career Ladder on Wed, 10/03/2010 - 08:46
From April 2010 the old format of the medical certificate issued by a doctor when an employee is sick will change so that a doctor will sign to state whether the employee is either not fit for work, or may be fit for work. If the employee may be fit for work the doctor will make such recommendations to the employer as he considers appropriate so that the employee can return to work – for example, suggesting amendments that the employer might make to working arrangements to enable to employee to return to work.
The government has renamed the old sick notes 'fit notes'. The accompanying publicity states that it is in the employee’s interest to return to work as quickly as possible, and places the emphasis on doctors certifying fitness for work rather than the reverse.
Employers who cannot make the adjustments the doctor has suggested to enable the employee to return to work should treat the new certificate as if the doctor had certified the individual as "not fit for work", and accordingly process entitlement to SSP as normal.
Read the Guidance on the new 'Statement of fitness for work" from the DWP'
See a sample version of the new medical statement.
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