The following Fit Note guides will help you, as an employer, understand the rules regarding Fit Notes and how you can use the information in a Fit Note to help your business and employees more effectively when they are not working due to illness. For the purposes of statutory sickness benefit, employers cannot require employees to provide them with a certificate of fitness during the first seven days of sick leave. Instead, employees can self-certify for this period. If an employer requires medical proof of occupational sickness benefit during the first seven days of sick leave, it is their responsibility to arrange and pay for it. In other words, although the employee on long-term sick leave is regularly reassessed by his or her family physician, there is often not enough information in the adjustment note to properly assess the types of adjustments that need to be made. Most primary care physicians are not trained in occupational medicine, have little time to see patients, and often only have the patient`s report on their symptoms. During the period of introduction of the new model, the previous one is still legally valid, provided that it is signed in ink. The adjustment slip belongs to your employee and must keep the original. You can choose to take a copy for your records. The employer should carefully consider any passport note recommendations, as they can help the person return to work more quickly. If your employee is deemed fit for work, their adjustment note will help you discuss these changes with them. Adjustment notes are not legally binding. However, this does not mean that employers should immediately force their employees back to work.
Instead, employers should consider any reasonable adjustments indicated on the note, for example: If you cannot agree on the changes, you must treat the notice of fitness as if it indicated that your employee is unable to work and use it as described above. Your employee does not need a new adjustment note from their doctor to confirm this. Take a look at an example of this situation. The previous personalization notice can be sent to your employee until all GP-IT practice systems are updated. We intend to notify you and update this guide when this is complete and the previous version is no longer accepted. I will not have to reassess your ability to work at the end of this period – your employee`s health status should not affect their ability to work once the adjustment certificate expires. In light of the credit note`s indication of the changes to be made to facilitate their return, if no agreement can be reached, the employee must continue to be considered an incapacity for work. You do not need to receive another adjustment note.
An employee may be able to return to work before the end date of their cut note if they have recovered faster than expected, but as an employer, you must be careful not to exert undue pressure or influence on this decision. Employers who are concerned about whether a person`s reported absence due to illness is real should properly investigate by means of a medical examination with the employee`s authorization by an occupational physician or other suitably qualified professional. Employers may also arrange a recovery interview to ask the employee about the nature and extent of their recent illness, especially if they suspect that the employee has invented or exaggerated their symptoms. Your personalization score can be used to reference their answers. Employers should be cautious when interviewing an employee and not jump to conclusions, as this exposes them to the risk of suing for constructive dismissal. Some employers have their own policies that require employees to receive medical proof that they are fit for duty. If this is the case, your employer should help you arrange this privately with a family doctor or occupational health professional. A physician may not issue a certificate of fitness for this purpose. Following a health assessment, an adjustment note may state: Notwithstanding the foregoing, an employer has the right to contact the health professional who issued the adjustment certificate to verify an adjustment note provided by an employee.
However, employers cannot request additional information about the disease or condition. In this case, the employer is only entitled to the information already contained in the Fit note. In cases where an employee chooses to return to work before the end date of their performance file, you should consider all advice in the adjustment and determine if a risk assessment is required. By conducting an appropriate risk assessment, you are meeting your legal obligations to ensure the health and safety of the employee. The little-noticed change was incorporated into the government`s new adjustment note guidelines issued in March and could allow an employer to prioritise the views of an occupational physician over those of a general practitioner. You manage 3 people in a delivery company. One of them is a driver who has just undergone laser eye surgery and cannot drive for 2 weeks. Since the adjustment slip is a person`s general fitness for duty, your driver`s doctor will assess whether they could be fit for duty based on the following tips and check off the modified area of service. You may suspect that an employee is capable of working, contrary to the advice in the adjustment note. Similarly, you may think that your employee is unable to work, either after their certificate of fitness expires or even if they have not received a fitness grade because their doctor feels they are completely fit and healthy. Adjustment notes must be signed or include the name of the health professional who approved them for legal validity. Whether it is the previous or new version of the personalization notice, it should not be accepted if it does not include the signature or name of the health professional, as it may not be genuine.
The personalization note also tells you if your employee is likely to need a new personalization note when their current score expires. In certain circumstances, the employee may submit a document that resembles an adjustment note from another health professional, such as a physiotherapist or occupational therapist. This is called the AHP (Allied Health Professionals) report. However, the employee needs your consent to rely on an AHP report as an alternative to creating a certificate of fitness from their GP or hospital. For short-term absences, you can initiate a return-to-work interview to ask the employee about the nature and extent of their recent illness, especially if you suspect they have invented or exaggerated their symptoms. They can use their adjustment score or written self-certification to compare their responses. In general, a fitness note must be taken literally as proof of an employee`s illness and proof of incapacity for work. However, there may be instances where you suspect an employee of mixing. No. Only authorized health professionals (HCPs) can issue adjustment notes. HCPs listed in the legislation are registered nurses, occupational therapists, pharmacists, physiotherapists and physicians.
Not all people in these occupations are sufficiently experienced and qualified to certify and deliver skills, so this is only the case if they have the appropriate training and knowledge to assess a person`s ability to work. Additional guidance and training was provided to HCPs to help them determine if they are capable of doing so. In such situations, you may choose to further investigate the basis (or lack thereof) of the certificate of fitness by gathering your own medical evidence about your employee`s ability to work with other physicians and health care professionals. A fitness note is an official written statement from a physician who gives medical advice on a person`s ability to work. As of July 1, Fit certificates can also be issued by other healthcare professionals (e.g. nurse, occupational therapist, pharmacist or physiotherapist). Adjustment notes were formerly known as sickness notes. A fitness note may include recommendations on how the employer could support the employee. In the guidelines for employers and supervisors, under the heading “Is the FIT Notice binding on me?”, the government clarified that the answer is “no”. No. The assessment of your employee`s disability or employment (and all other advice in the Fit category) is classified as counselling, and it is up to employers to decide whether or not to accept it. If you want to return to work before the end date of your qualifying list, you should discuss your return to work with your employer.
Your employee`s adjustment slip tells you how long they won`t be able to work and whether they can expect to return to work as before after expiration. For more information, see the sections of the customization note. Important: Your employee can return to work at any time (even before the end of the adjustment note) without seeing their doctor, even if the doctor has indicated that they need to reassess them. This does not violate your employer`s liability insurance, provided that an appropriate risk assessment has been carried out if necessary. You may need to perform a risk assessment to consider clinical judgment in the adjustment category (for example, if it says your employee should avoid lifting, you are responsible if you assign them to work that involves manual handling). Guidance on risk assessment is available on the HSE website. The adjustment note will indicate if and when the employee is fit to return to work, including advice on changes you can make to facilitate their return. There may also be recommendations in the form of checkboxes indicating what kind of general adjustments might be useful in their declaration.
These include: The Sickness Benefits Regulations, 2021 are now in force.