Employee takes eight months off without seeing GP: "Businesses face a DIY sick note disaster"

THE fit note process is not fit for purpose and can be too easily abused through digital issuance and a lack of oversight, a Human Resources professional has claimed, after dealing with a case where an employee had eight months off work but only saw the GP once, right at the beginning of their absence from work.

Concerns are growing that businesses could be left further exposed when Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) is expected to move to day one from April 2026.

After the initial appointment, the employee simply requested further fit notes citing “mental health” via the GP surgery’s online platform.

First for a month, then two months, then two months, then two months, then another 50 days. They put their own details in, and the fit note gets issued digitally.

The employee said they had not actually seen a doctor in 8 months.

This comes as SSP is expected to move to day one of employment from April 2026, and the lower earnings limit is expected to go too.

HR expert Kate Underwood, Founder at Southampton-based Kate Underwood HR and Training, said a proper review needs to take place if repeated extensions are requested.

She warned that more businesses will be vulnerable to this tactic next year and called for sick notes to include a plan on how to get them back to work.

She said: "On top of increased taxes, businesses now face a DIY sick note disaster as poorly monitored sickness leave requests see employees stay off for months. Auto-renewal fit notes are turning SSP into a subscription nobody asked for. 

"I’m sick of seeing people with real mental health problems parked at home on repeat notes with no proper check-in, no plan and no route back. That isn’t support. And small businesses take the punch. You can’t reclaim SSP, so it comes straight out of your bank account. 

“Employers already pay around £650m a year in SSP, and day-one SSP is modelled to push that to about £1.07bn from April 2026. The weekly rate is up roughly a third since 2016, so the same absence costs more. Meanwhile nearly £10bn a year goes on PIP for mental health. If we’re spending that kind of money, fit notes need a proper clinical review.”

Michelle Lawson, Director at Fareham-based Lawson Financial, was scathing about employees who game the system.

She said: "We seem to have an epidemic of Lazyitis and making it too easy – which exacerbates the problem but also makes it harder for those in genuine need. Too much is done on trust and leaving people to self service which creates a whole new problem. 

"Back to the drawing board – all people that can work should work and take away the burden from the state and taxpayers."

Kundan Bhaduri, Entrepreneur, Investor and Landlord at London-based The Kushman Group, said people are abusing the system.

He continued: "Fit notes have forever been used to evade work and watch daytime TV while on SSP. This is not new. What is new however is this rampant and belligerent abuse of the system using automated processes which business owners can do absolutely nothing about. 

"GP surgeries can run their own IT systems and processes all they like, but it does not fix the main problem that people will try and game the system."

Sarah Gatford, Head of Interactions at Sarah Gatford Ltd, said a pathway needs to be provided, otherwise the notes don't work.

She added: "A fit note should open conversations about function and support. Instead, it's become a conversation-stopper. ‘Mental health’ becomes the full stop rather than the starting point. This is a system where a vague label replaces actual assessment and care planning, undermining effective support. 

"The employee gets a label but no pathway to recovery, with little understanding of what they actually need. The employer gets a piece of paper that tells them nothing about how to support someone's return to work. The GP becomes an administrator rather than a genuine care facilitator. 

“Protection comes from functional detail, not vague labels. We've supposedly normalised mental health conversations, yet this process makes meaningful dialogue harder. If day one SSP lands in April, we need fit notes describing function, not labels that shut down support. ‘Mental health’ on a fit note isn't protecting genuine sufferers. It's failing them by replacing proper assessment with admin convenience.”

Scott Gallacher, Director at Leicester-based Rowley Turton, said the current system doesn't work for employers or employees.

He added: "Fit notes being extended again and again with very little explanation create real problems for both employers and employees. If a fit note keeps being extended, something has gone wrong somewhere. Either the original return-to-work date was unrealistic, the treatment hasn’t worked — or worse, hasn’t been delivered at all, particularly in mental health cases — or something genuinely unexpected has happened. 

"At the moment, no one seems accountable for that. In mental health cases especially, a rolling series of fit notes with no detail on functional impact, adjustments or a plan helps nobody. It risks leaving people parked on long-term absence rather than properly supported. 

“This becomes an even bigger issue with day-one statutory sick pay expected from April 2026. If costs are moving earlier, the fit note process needs stronger checks at the same time. Otherwise small businesses carry the uncertainty, while people who genuinely need help still don’t get a clear route forward.”

Carol Vickers, Owner at Created by Carol, said the employer does hold responsibility.

She continued: "It is the clinician's responsibility to determine whether their patient is able to work, including options like reduced hours, phased return, or limited duties. Fit notes are often completed with vague diagnoses such as ‘mental health’ or ‘stress at work’, which helps nobody. But the responsibility for helping the employee back to work lies with the employer. 

"Initiating Occupational Health (OH) assessment after 8 months of absence is far too late. From the start of absence, employers need to be actively helping to define what would enable a return, whether they have exhausted reasonable adjustments, and whether the workplace is contributing to the ill health. 

“Scheduling regular interaction (in whichever format is most appropriate to the illness) with the employee is a vital part of determining if / how well they are recovering and how the employer can assist. A GP or similar is not responsible for enabling a return to work. That's the combined role of the employer, employee and OH advisor /HR."

Rohit Parmar-Mistry, Founder at Burton-on-Trent-based Pattrn Data, said the system is to blame rather than the employee.

He added: "Everyone is focusing on ‘skivers’ gaming the system, but they are missing the dangerous reality. If an employee can be signed off for eight months via a portal without ever seeing a doctor, we haven’t just created a loophole; we’ve created a public health disaster. 

"This is classic ‘bad automation’. We are using tech to speed up the admin (the note) whilst deleting the value (the diagnosis). We’ve replaced clinical assessment with a digital tick-box. That isn’t efficiency; it’s abandonment. If someone is struggling with mental health for a year and their only NHS interaction is a digital form, they aren’t being treated, they’re being ignored. 

“The system is simply rubber-stamping their decline. With Day One SSP approaching, we must stop pretending a digital form is a substitute for medical intervention. Otherwise, we aren’t just bankrupting small businesses; we’re institutionalising a system where people get signed off indefinitely but never actually get better.”