Fit to work or Too Sick to work?

Fit Notes

At the end of last year, the Government first announced its plans to change the current sick note in favour of a new “Fit Note”. The idea is to change the culture away from employees being “signed off” to a more proactive approach, which will allow GPs to suggest temporary alterations to help the new employee to return to work.

The Department of Work and Pensions consultation, which ended in August 2009, proposes a new format for a medical statement. The current form does not provide the opportunity for enough information to say how or whether an employee’s condition can be accommodated at work. The new format, if the proposals go ahead, will have three possible statements for the GP to advise that the
employee is fit for work, not fit for work, or may be fit for some work now.

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