Sick (fit) notes

If you’ve been off sick for more than 7 days

To request a sick note:

If you have already been seen by your doctor about your illness, your certificate will be sent to you within 1 week by email (check your junk/spam) or 2nd class post if we do not have an email address for you.

If the doctor is unable to issue an additional sick note, we may contact you to arrange an appointment.

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.