Employee sick notes are outdated and the whole process needs to be revised to better suit businesses’ needs, it has been claimed.
Speaking at a conference today, Professor Dame Carol Black, national director for health and work, revealed that the concept of the written sick note has existed since 1922, and needs to be reformed to suit the modern working world.
In its place, Black advocated the introduction of a ‘fit note’, listing what kind of work the employee is still capable of doing and what adjustments need to be made to make this happen.
At the ACAS/CIPD conference entitled ‘Building successful workplaces: Employment relations in the 21st Century’, Black said: “We need to replace the 1922 sick note, it doesn’t meet the needs of employees, employers or GPs and work is already underway in the Department of Work and Pensions to look at how it can be changed.
“The process labels individuals as ill and re- enforces the ‘sick note culture’.”
In the meantime, Black is also working with the Royal College of General Practitioners to give GPs more training to handle discussions with patients who inappropriately say they need a sick note.
She added that electronic sick notes may help to introduce an atmosphere of clinical audit, recording and comparing the number issued by each doctor, which may in turn encourage GPs to ask more questions before issuing them.
However, Black stressed that employers also have an important role to play.
She said: “This is not just a medical issue. Good line management is essential for keeping people in work and content. Without that it doesn’t matter how much fresh fruit and veg a company provides.”
Her recommendations will be presented in a report, which is due to be published in early March.
© Crimson Business Ltd. 2008
