Doctors Note

justjames87

Morning, just looking for some advice really as I can’t seem to find a straight answer on Google. 

Basically I was off sick from work 29th, 30th Sept and 1st October (Weds, Thurs and Fri) with what I’m fairly certain was a head cold. I followed the procedure of informing my employer I was ill etc.

Fortunately I then had the following week (4th-8th Oct) as annual leave. 

Anyway today I’m still under the weather with what I think may be a sinus infection which was probably brought on from the initial head cold. 

My employee has asked for a doctors note but am I still within my 7 days of self cert due to being on annual leave last week? 

Thanks in advance.

68ComebackSpecial

justjames87 said:

Morning, just looking for some advice really as I can’t seem to find a straight answer on Google. 

Basically I was off sick from work 29th, 30th Sept and 1st October (Weds, Thurs and Fri) with what I’m fairly certain was a head cold. I followed the procedure of informing my employer I was ill etc.

Fortunately I then had the following week (4th-8th Oct) as annual leave. 

Anyway today I’m still under the weather with what I think may be a sinus infection which was probably brought on from the initial head cold. 

My employee has asked for a doctors note but am I still within my 7 days of self cert due to being on annual leave last week? 

Thanks in advance.

Is this a hypothetical question? Your dates can't be correct - today is Monday 4th October and, given your timeline, the first day of your annual leave.

justjames87

68ComebackSpecial said:

justjames87 said:

Morning, just looking for some advice really as I can’t seem to find a straight answer on Google. 

Basically I was off sick from work 29th, 30th Sept and 1st October (Weds, Thurs and Fri) with what I’m fairly certain was a head cold. I followed the procedure of informing my employer I was ill etc.

Fortunately I then had the following week (4th-8th Oct) as annual leave. 

Anyway today I’m still under the weather with what I think may be a sinus infection which was probably brought on from the initial head cold. 

My employee has asked for a doctors note but am I still within my 7 days of self cert due to being on annual leave last week? 

Thanks in advance.

Is this a hypothetical question? Your dates can't be correct - today is Monday 4th October and, given your timeline, the first day of your annual leave.

Ah man, I’ve had a nightmare with the dates here aha. I was off sick 22nd, 23rd, 24th September. Was annual leave 27th - 1st Oct, then sick again today.  Apologies  

Undervalued

justjames87 said:

Morning, just looking for some advice really as I can’t seem to find a straight answer on Google. 

Basically I was off sick from work 29th, 30th Sept and 1st October (Weds, Thurs and Fri) with what I’m fairly certain was a head cold. I followed the procedure of informing my employer I was ill etc.

Fortunately I then had the following week (4th-8th Oct) as annual leave. 

Anyway today I’m still under the weather with what I think may be a sinus infection which was probably brought on from the initial head cold. 

My employee has asked for a doctors note but am I still within my 7 days of self cert due to being on annual leave last week? 

Thanks in advance.

Whilst you can self certify for 7 days for SSP purposes, if your employer pays anything over and above SSP they can insist on whatever certification and timeframe they please.

Also it is not uncommon to require a doctor's "fit note" for any sickness absence at all that joins on to annual leave.

SSP, despite the name is actually paid by the employer, not the government. It is not payable for the first three days of sickness so any sick pay you may get for those days is "company" sick pay and again the employer can insist on whatever certification they wish.

Strictly speaking a NHS doctor's fit note (sick note) is only for SSP purposes so the doctor can charge for anything else.

justjames87

Undervalued said:

justjames87 said:

Morning, just looking for some advice really as I can’t seem to find a straight answer on Google. 

Basically I was off sick from work 29th, 30th Sept and 1st October (Weds, Thurs and Fri) with what I’m fairly certain was a head cold. I followed the procedure of informing my employer I was ill etc.

Fortunately I then had the following week (4th-8th Oct) as annual leave. 

Anyway today I’m still under the weather with what I think may be a sinus infection which was probably brought on from the initial head cold. 

My employee has asked for a doctors note but am I still within my 7 days of self cert due to being on annual leave last week? 

Thanks in advance.

Whilst you can self certify for 7 days for SSP purposes, if your employer pays anything over and above SSP they can insist on whatever certification and timeframe they please.

Also it is not uncommon to require a doctor's "fit note" for any sickness absence at all that joins on to annual leave.

SSP, despite the name is actually paid by the employer, not the government. It is not payable for the first three days of sickness so any sick pay you may get for those days is "company" sick pay and again the employer can insist on whatever certification they wish.

Strictly speaking a NHS doctor's fit note (sick note) is only for SSP purposes so the doctor can charge for anything else.

Thanks for your reply. 

Will my Doctor not refuse to give me a note as it’s still within the 7 day self cert period?

Undervalued

justjames87 said:

Undervalued said:

justjames87 said:

Morning, just looking for some advice really as I can’t seem to find a straight answer on Google. 

Basically I was off sick from work 29th, 30th Sept and 1st October (Weds, Thurs and Fri) with what I’m fairly certain was a head cold. I followed the procedure of informing my employer I was ill etc.

Fortunately I then had the following week (4th-8th Oct) as annual leave. 

Anyway today I’m still under the weather with what I think may be a sinus infection which was probably brought on from the initial head cold. 

My employee has asked for a doctors note but am I still within my 7 days of self cert due to being on annual leave last week? 

Thanks in advance.

Whilst you can self certify for 7 days for SSP purposes, if your employer pays anything over and above SSP they can insist on whatever certification and timeframe they please.

Also it is not uncommon to require a doctor's "fit note" for any sickness absence at all that joins on to annual leave.

SSP, despite the name is actually paid by the employer, not the government. It is not payable for the first three days of sickness so any sick pay you may get for those days is "company" sick pay and again the employer can insist on whatever certification they wish.

Strictly speaking a NHS doctor's fit note (sick note) is only for SSP purposes so the doctor can charge for anything else.

Thanks for your reply. 

Will my Doctor not refuse to give me a note as it’s still within the 7 day self cert period?

You can only ask and see what they say. Quite often they will but if they are feeling pedantic they are entitled to charge for anything outside of their NHS duties.

TELLIT01

It's not still within the 7 day self-cert period, at least not for most employers.  It is 7 calendar days from the first date of sickness.  Using the OPs logic, most people wouldn't need a certificate until day 9 if they work a 5 day week as weekends would be excluded as they aren't working days.

Jillanddy

I may have lost the will to live (been a long day already!) but it isn't within the 7 days, is it? You were off and self-certified Wednesday - Friday. You then had nine days (Saturday one week to Sunday the next) when you were actually on leave - you were not sick (officially not sick). So this is a second period. You may need a fit note because it is a connected illness but there is no reason why you shouldn't be able to get one. 

chrisbur

Nothing to do with fit notes just a bit about SSP in case that is all your employer pays.  You have said you were off on Wed Thurs Fri and then again a week later.  For SSP to be considered you need to have been off work due to sickness for four consecutive days these are called PIWs These can link if they are 8 weeks or less apart and if they do link only one set of waiting days is lost. If you latest illness lasts for 4 days or more unless you had a PIW within eight weeks you will not get paid for the first three days.  However if your earlier sickness lasted until the Saturday you have the four days needed for a PIW which will link and cover your three waiting days so SSP would now be payable from the first day of your second sickness.
As a general rule if you work Monday to Friday and you are off first three days or last three it is best to also be sick over the weekend so that you link with any old PIWs or any you may have in the future if they apply.

Jillanddy

chrisbur said:

Nothing to do with fit notes just a bit about SSP in case that is all your employer pays.  You have said you were off on Wed Thurs Fri and then again a week later.  For SSP to be considered you need to have been off work due to sickness for four consecutive days these are called PIWs These can link if they are 8 weeks or less apart and if they do link only one set of waiting days is lost. If you latest illness lasts for 4 days or more unless you had a PIW within eight weeks you will not get paid for the first three days.  However if your earlier sickness lasted until the Saturday you have the four days needed for a PIW which will link and cover your three waiting days so SSP would now be payable from the first day of your second sickness.
As a general rule if you work Monday to Friday and you are off first three days or last three it is best to also be sick over the weekend so that you link with any old PIWs or any you may have in the future if they apply.

It is probably also worth saying - because this came up in another thread recently - that if you are on annual leave when sick (even if you had already been sick before annual leave) you need to:
(a) ALWAYS phone in / notify your employer immediately that you are sick and comply with your employers reporting procedure to the letter, and 
(b) check what evidence / policies your employer has in place, because this may mean that you MUST have a sick note to cover any annual leave period or you will not get that back; and some employers also have rules about having to have been in work for at least a day BEFORE or AFTER you go on annual leave or yit ay affect your pay (to prevent people conveniently being sick just before / after annual leave and actually fiddling a few extra days - which does happen sometimes!)

rainbowtrout

No, sick leave is counted continuously regardless of whether it’s interrupted by bank holidays, annual leave or weekends. You are not ‘not sick’ on your usual days off.