How To Know That Your Sick Certificate For Work Is Valid

sick certificate

Spending time away from work due to illness or injury can be painful.

Firstly there is the ailment to deal with that is keeping you off site, then there are the stresses and anxieties about being absent from an environment that might rely on your endeavour to operate correctly.

Yet it is a normal turn of events that will see employees be absent from time to time and this is where they need to obtain a sick certificate to have their full pay entitlements lodged with the HR department.

To avoid any added scrutiny or questions about the validity of my document from the GP near me, it is important that this meets a basic form of criteria.

 

Name and Details of the GP Near Me

In a majority of cases, most employers will read the sick certificate for the essential details before forwarding it to the archives and processing the pay entitlements. Yet there can be times when they will investigate the legitimacy of a medical provider and this is where their name and details come into play. It needs to list coherently who the doctor is and where their practicing location is.

 

Details Around Timing of Ailment and Expected Return

It should first be noted that there is no minimum amount of time that has to be taken to receive a sick certificate. If you are even half a day off work, there can be employers who would like to have documentation to ensure that you are legally covered for your pay entitlements. Some believe that you need to be away for 2-3 days minimum for a document to be obtained, but that is not the case. The form need to outline how long the illness has been experienced for, how long it is expected to continue (if at all) and when the expected return date to work will be.

 

From a GP Office Only

Those workers who have taken a quick visit to the chemist or enjoyed a remedial massage are not exactly entitled to receiving a sick certificate. Only through a certified GP for an appointment that wasn’t a routine checkup or exam is considered acceptable by employers in this context. The medical field is diverse and there are all manner of disciplines that exist under this banner, but they are not all eligible to issue work-related certificates. There are instances where a dental or psychology appointment can be validated.

 

Signed and Sealed

An authentic and freshly written signature is necessary from the general practitioner for the sick certificate to be considered a legitimate note. It must signal the date of the signature and be authenticated with the full name written in bold lettering below the mark. If that is not evident when the letter is opened, then it cannot be authenticated.

 

Not Paid For

Remember to note that you are paying for a medical examination when you receive a sick certificate, you are not paying directly for the certificate itself. This is when major questions can be asked about legitimacy of a form as there are dubious outlets circulating online who do offer documents in exchange for cash. This new wave has been a result of workers who want the convenience of the item without having to have the appointment on their day off, but this is where multiple questions will arise.

 

Summary

Should you not follow through on these points regarding your sick certificate, there is every chance that the HR department will have questions for you. This is an uncomfortable situation to be in and something that any employee from any sector will want to avoid at all costs.