A number of new legislative provisions will be coming into force from 6 April 2010 and notice has been given of other provisions coming into effect in April 2011. The key changes for employers to keep in mind are dealt with in this bulletin.

Fit notes

From 6 April 2010, GPs will start using the new Statements of Fitness For Work, known as 'Fit Notes'. The Government believes that the new Fit Notes (which will replace the former MED3 sick note) will enable doctors to provide clearer advice to their patients about the effects of their health condition. It is envisaged that this in turn should enable the patient to work more closely with the employer to facilitate a speedier return to work.

The key changes are:

  • The statement will list changes which might be made to an employee's work environment or job role to help facilitate a return to work. Where a doctor considers another option is more appropriate, he or she will have the opportunity to state this in the comments box.
  • There will no longer be a 'fit to work' option as previously existed with the sick notes. This is because it was felt that doctors did not have the appropriate knowledge about individuals' roles and the risks involved to be able to assess the position properly.
  • The 'may be fit for some work' option will be replaced with 'you may be fit for work taking into account the following advice'. This acknowledges that it is not the doctor but the employer, in consultation with their employee, who is best placed to make the decision as to whether they can accommodate any changes to facilitate a return to work.
  • The maximum duration of a Fit Note, issued in the first six months of a medical condition, will be reduced from six months to three in the hope that dialogue between employer and employee might effect an earlier return to work.
  • If an employer cannot facilitate a change or an adjustment, a revised Fit Note is not necessary. The existing Fit Note will be evidence that an individual has a health condition preventing him or her carrying out the current role. Statutory sick pay will be unaffected in these circumstances and will continue as normal.

For the time being, only GPs will be able to issue Fit Notes. However the Government has not ruled out extending the right to issue them to other health care practitioners in the future.

New right to request time off for study or training

On 6 April 2010 a new right will come into effect allowing employees the right to request time off work for study or training. Initially, this will apply to employers with more than 250 employees, but it will be extended to all employers, regardless of size, from 6 April 2011.

To be eligible to make such an application, the employee must have at least 26 weeks' service. The study leave or training must also be for the purpose of improving both their effectiveness at work and the performance of their employer's business (although it need not lead to a formal qualification).

Additional paternity leave

The new additional paternity leave rules will apply to parents of babies due on or after 3 April 2011 and to adoptive parents who are notified of having been matched with a child on or after that date. Eligible parents will be those with at least 26 weeks employment ending on the relevant week.

Additional paternity leave will give eligible employees (usually fathers) the right of up to 26 weeks' leave to care for a child if the child's mother or (in the case of adoptions) primary adopter returns to work without using their full entitlement to maternity or adoption leave. The length of the additional paternity leave will be limited to the number of weeks that remain outstanding from the mother's maternity leave when she returns to work. Some of the paternity leave may be paid leave if taken during the mother's maternity pay period or during the primary adoption pay period.

The leave must be for the purpose of caring for a child under the age of one year or (for an adopted child) in the first year after being placed for adoption. Mother and father cannot take maternity and paternity leave concurrently and the mother must have returned to work before the father can benefit from these regulations. The child must be over 20 weeks old or must have been with its adopted parents for 20 weeks.

If entitled to paid leave, the standard weekly rate is currently £124.88 a week or 90% of normal weekly earnings if lower.

Whistleblowing claims

As dealt with in our January Employment Bulletin, from 6 April 2010 Employment Tribunals will have powers to pass on information about whistleblowing claims to appropriate statutory regulators. Where a Tribunal identifies a claim as concerning whistleblowing (and where it has jurisdiction to hear the claim), it will send copies of the claim directly to the prescribed regulator. The regulator will then assess the information and, if appropriate, investigate the underlying allegation as part of their normal regulatory duties. Tribunals will only be able to pass on such information if the Claimant has consented to it doing so by ticking a newly added box on the ET1; this procedure is an 'opt in' rather than an 'opt out' measure.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.