With effect from 6th April 2010 GPs will be introducing a new type of sick note which will enable them, based on an assessment of the patient’s health condition, to state one of two options, either that the employee is unfit for work, or that they may be fit for work . The new scheme is designed to tackle long-term sickness absence and to reduce the number of people currently unable to work through incapacity by making it easier to return to work.

 

Where the patient is stated to be fit for some work the form has tick boxes allowing doctors to suggest various adaptations to accommodate their health condition such as a phased return to work, altered hours, amended duties and workplace changes. There is also a large comments box in which GPs can provide more detailed information about the effects of the patient’s condition on their ability to perform certain duties. There will be no option for a doctor to certify a patient as fit for (all) work because it has been suggested that doctors would not have the appropriate knowledge about an individual’s job role to be able to assess their ability to perform it in its entirety.

 

It is up to the employer to decide whether and what changes they can accommodate to facilitate a return to work. Some will be worried that the changes mean they must make costly adjustments for people who will be perfectly fit within weeks of returning to work. The DWP has stressed however that if adjustments are too costly or not practicable the recommendations of the fit note will not be binding – as before, employees would just continue to be on sick leave. Employers should take care however that they do not discount the changes too quickly without making “reasonable adjustments” and therefore increase their risk of disability claims. This risk will of course will only arise where an employee has a disability as defined in the Disability Discrimination Act.

 

A related worry surrounding the new system is the danger that the GP may recommend a phased or partial return to work that is simply too costly or not feasible from the employee’s  perspective.  Employees’ expectations could be raised by the GP’s recommendations so they could be looking forward to a phased return; possibly on so called “light duties” whilst such duties may not exist or be feasible. Dialogue between the GP, employee and employer may therefore be essential. The DWP will be providing advice to GPs and employers, and part-funding half day workshops for GPs in preparation of the fit notes.

 

With the onus sitting most significantly on the employer to prove that what the GP recommends is not possible, it seems likely that Occupational Health specialists will be in high demand. This is perhaps a positive outcome as the UK has been shown to have the lowest occupational health provision in Europe.