Can an employer override a doctor's sick note?

A fit note is advice, not an order

DWP guidance for healthcare professionals describes the fit note as an advisory document and says the employer can decide whether to accept it. That surprises people, but it works both ways. Your employer is not bound to agree with the doctor, and the same guidance for employers sets limits on what they can do about it:

• An employee cannot be required to provide further medical evidence beyond a fit note.
• If your employer thinks you could do some work while signed ‘not fit’, they may ask you to have a further assessment with a healthcare professional.
• If they stop paying Statutory Sick Pay, they should explain why. You are entitled to a written statement and can ask HMRC for a formal decision.

Your employer also cannot hold back Statutory Sick Pay just because your fit note reached them late. The statutory sick pay guide covers who qualifies and the current rate.

When the note says ‘may be fit for work’

A ‘may be fit’ note suggests changes such as phased return to work, altered hours, amended duties or workplace adaptations. This advice is not binding, and your employer does not have to agree to it. If you cannot agree any changes, you are treated as not fit for work on the same fit note, and you do not need a new one. Acas adds one exception: where a recommendation is a reasonable adjustment for a disabled employee, the employer must put it in place. For how a gradual return is usually agreed, see phased return to work.

Can occupational health overrule a GP sick note?

Occupational health is a specialist workplace health service. Some employers have their own in-house service; others use an outside provider. DWP guidance for employers treats it as a source of advice: when a fit note suggests occupational health input, it is the employer’s decision whether to act on it, and when employer and employee cannot agree on a return, the employer may want to consult its occupational health service.

Nothing in that guidance describes occupational health cancelling a fit note. What happens in practice is that the employer weighs both pieces of advice and makes a decision, and the limits above still apply. If you disagree with an occupational health report, say so in writing and ask your employer how they intend to use it.

Employer won’t accept a private sick note

A private medical certificate is not an NHS fit note. GOV.UK says one may be accepted by your employer as medical evidence in the same way as a fit note, but only if they agree. DWP guidance for employers says the same, and adds that if they accept it they do not need to ask you for a fit note as well. For Statutory Sick Pay, the regulations allow evidence other than a fit note if it is sufficient to show you were unfit for work, which is how a private certificate can count when an employer accepts it.

So your employer can say no. If they do, ask your GP for a fit note, and tell your employer when to expect it. Before ordering a private sick note, check your sickness absence policy or ask HR whether they accept private certificates. The fit note and sick note comparison sets out where each one works, and are online sick notes valid covers online certificates.