What is Self-Certification Sickness?

A self-certification form for sickness is a document that your employees can use to certify an absence without needing a doctor's note. It can include details about the nature of the illness and the duration of the absence. This process can help you as the employer to manage and track your staff members’ sick leave more effectively. 

Croner are experts when it comes to HR, employment law, and managing sickness absence – get in touch with our team now on 0808 501 6651.

Regardless of your company size in terms of employees, it’s likely you’ll be dealing with sickness absence at some point. Unfortunately, there are cases where you as the employer will question the legitimacy of sickness leave. However, you have the legal right to request your staff to provide certification of their absence should you see fit.

To manage sickness in your workplace, you should create and maintain a workplace sickness policy. This will outline to your employees whether you require a self-certification form instead of a Fit for Work note. 

• What is self-certification sickness?
• When can employees use sickness and self-certification?
• Can employees use self-certification after seven days of sickness?
• Statutory sick pay (SSP) and self-certification
• Where can I get a self-cert form?
• Download your FREE Self-certification sickness form template

What is self-certification sickness?

A self-certification sickness form is a form you can request your employee to complete to certify their absence from work was due to illness. It’s the only method of covering staff absences of seven days or less.

Self-certification forms are only available if the employee has been off work for seven days or less. If it’s longer, you can ask the employee to request a fit note from a GP or doctor.

When can employees use sickness self-certification?

Your employees can complete a ‘self-cert’ form if they’re off work due to illness for seven days or less. An employee may provide this through several methods such as filling in a provided form or via email.  

Normal practice includes asking the employee to complete the ‘self cert’ form upon their return from sickness to confirm the nature of their illness. You can also request that the employee reports their absence by phoning an absence line for every day they are off sick.

Can employees use self-certification after seven days of sickness?

After seven days of absence, you can ask your employee to provide medical evidence in the form of a fit note from a GP or a healthcare professional. They can no longer insist on only using a self-certification sick form, and they will need a statement of fitness for work form.

The statement of fitness for work (or ‘fit note’) is the form that a doctor will provide your employees when they are unable to work due to illness or injury.

Statutory sick pay (SSP) and self-certification

To qualify for statutory sick pay, or SSP, you must be on sick leave for four or more consecutive days.

For the first seven days, the employee is still required to provide a fit note to get statutory sick pay, and they can then self-certify via the self-certification form.  After this, they then require a sick note.

Where can I get a ‘self-cert’ form?

As an employer, it could be beneficial to create your own form to distribute to your employees, creating a personalised self-cert form that aligns with your business.

It can fit the form and style of your business and industry and make your formal records look more personalised and professional. Tracking your staff absences is always a recommended good practice to undertake. This way, you can work towards minimising absences in the future by potentially making workplace adjustments and spotting trends early.

You can also ask for details of the sick leave via email; whichever way that you feel is appropriate for your business. We’ve provided a helpful template at the bottom of this blog for you to get to grips with what a self-certification sickness form should look like.

 

Self-certification sickness form template

Croner are here to help you apply this template legally and support on any other issues you may have. Take a look at our download below and get your FREE self-certification sickness form template – legally compliant and professional. For immediate advice, get in touch with our expert HR consultants to discuss more about sick leave on 0808 501 6651?