The government has launched a 12 week consultation on the design of electronic Fit Notes to replace handwritten medical certificates signing employees off sick. The fit notes are aimed at helping employees stay in work rather than take long term sick leave and to help improve information between employees, medical staff and employers.
The Fit Note will focus on what employees can do, rather than what employees with longer term health problems can’t do, and will include suggestions on managing a phased return to work or what reasonable adjustments employers can make to help employees with long-term health problems back to work.
Figures from the CBI report that sickness absences lasting over a month make up around 40% of days lost to sickness. In 2007, the CBI estimates that 172 million working days were lost due to absence at a cost of £13 billion to employers.
The current system is problematic because it fails to take into account that an employee may be able to perform some of their duties or whether their job could be adapted to facilitate a return to work. It is frustrating for employees who want to return to work but can’t do so without adjustments and employers who want an employee back at work but have no guidance as to how to manage it. Employees who are not working due to sickness can become detached from their work colleagues and workplace and so find it even harder to return.
Fit notes will be rolled out next Spring.
If you have any queries about long-term sickness absence and employment issues, please contact Ashley Hunt or Vaishali Thakerar on 0116 212 1000 now.
