No new duty of care with'fit notes'

The replacement of GPs’ sick notes by new ‘fit notes’ will not create a new duty of care on employers, according to Chubb Insurance Europe.

Under the new arrangements, which came into force yesterday (April 6th), workers who are off sick for longer than seven days will receive fit notes from their GPs.

Doctors will still be able to say someone is not fit for work, but will also be able to spell out aspects of their jobs workers can still perform. The onus will be on employers to help staff return to work in some capacity.

However, Chubb Loss Control Specialist Robert Tailby said the new scheme potentially raised questions with regards to employer’s insurance liability in the event of a claim from an employee.

He said: “To make an employer’s liability claim against their employer, an employee has to prove the employer has been negligent. In the case of the fit note, this might arise if the employer failed to take sufficient account of the information on the fit note when bringing the worker back into the workplace and the person suffered harm as a result.

“However, following a good practice approach to managing absence and return to work should be sufficient to ensure that no additional harm is caused to the employee from being at work and hence that no grounds arise on which a personal injury claim could be made.

“In other words, the fit note does not create any new ‘duty of care’, but it does highlight the need for employers to ensure that all instances of actual or potential absence and return to work after sickness are properly managed.”