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Sick (fit) notes

If you’ve been Off Sick for more than 7 days

To request a sick note:

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. Sick notes are not emergency, and can take up to FIVE Days to Process. If the request is for more than 4 weeks, you may need a face-to-face appointment with a GP to review and to consider MODIFIED WORK. Your employer will need to organise their own independent OT assessment.

Find out more about sick notes on the NHS website.

Page published: 9 May 2023
Last updated: 20 June 2025