If you’ve been off sick for 7 days or less

If you’re off work sick for 7 days or less, your employer should not ask for medical evidence that you’ve been ill. Instead, they can ask you to confirm that you’ve been ill. You can do this by filling in a form yourself when you return to work. We call this self-certification.

Find out more about sick notes on the NHS website.

If you're off for more than seven days

If you’re off work sick for more than seven days, your employer will usually ask you to get a fit note from your doctor.

The note can say that:

• you are ‘not fit for work’
• you ‘may be fit for work’

The seven days include days that you don’t normally work. So when you work out how long you’ve been off sick, include weekends and bank holidays.

If you have been ill for more than 7 days you will need a doctor’s certificate. These certificates are called ‘Fitness to Work’ Certificates.

Please contact the surgery as the doctor may need to call you or arrange for an appointment.

If you're getting hospital treatment, ask for one from the doctor at your hospital.

If you have already had a Sick Note (Fit Note) for this illness your Doctor may not need to see you to issue an additional Sick Note. Please contact the surgery to request this. We will contact you to let you know when you can collect your Sick / Fit Note or we may contact you to arrange an appointment.