Sickness disputes can involve several different questions at once: whether you are entitled to sick pay, what medical evidence is required, how absence is managed, whether disability adjustments are needed and whether capability action is fair.
Start with the factual problem, then identify the right, evidence, remedy and route. Similar workplace situations can use different legal tests.
Key points
- From 6 April 2026 Statutory Sick Pay is payable from the first qualifying day and the lower earnings limit was removed.
- For sickness of 7 calendar days or less, an employer should not normally require a fit note.
- Long-term sickness can lead to capability action, but dismissal should be a last resort after proper investigation and support.
- Disability-related absence can engage reasonable-adjustment and discrimination duties.
Diagnosis
First: what exactly happened?
Work out which route fits the facts before deciding what to ask the employer to do. Similar workplace problems can use different legal tests.
| What happened? | What to check |
|---|---|
| You have not been paid SSP | Check eligibility, qualifying days and whether the employer is applying the post-6-April-2026 rules. |
| You are being asked for medical evidence | Distinguish self-certification, fit notes, occupational health and consent to medical reports. |
| Absence triggers or warnings are being applied | Check policy, consistency and whether disability-related absence needs adjustment. |
| Dismissal is being considered | Check medical evidence, prognosis, adjustments, alternatives and whether the capability process is genuinely fair. |
Who is responsible?
The employer remains responsible for complying with employment law and making fair decisions even where managers, HR, payroll, occupational health or external advisers administer part of the process.
Identify your employing entity and the actual decision-maker. If an agency, umbrella company or host business is involved, responsibility can differ by right and should be checked rather than assumed.
Statutory Sick Pay after 6 April 2026
From 6 April 2026 SSP became payable from the first qualifying day of sickness and the lower earnings limit was removed. Other eligibility rules still matter, and contractual sick pay can be more generous than the statutory minimum.
Fit notes and self-certification
For sickness lasting 7 calendar days or less, self-certification is normally enough. A fit note may say “may be fit for work” with suggested adjustments; if those cannot be accommodated, the person can still be treated as not fit for work without automatically needing a new note.
Long-term sickness and capability
The employer should obtain enough medical information, consult the employee, consider likely return, adjustments and alternatives, and avoid treating dismissal as the first option.
Disability-related absence
Absence management can engage the Equality Act where sickness relates to disability. Adjusting triggers, duties, hours or return arrangements may need to be considered.
Occupational health
Occupational health can advise on functional effects and return-to-work options, but it does not make the legal decision. Ask for the report and correct factual errors.
When capability action moves toward dismissal
Before dismissal for long-term ill health, the central questions usually include the medical evidence, likely return, impact on the organisation, length of absence, adjustments, alternatives and whether further waiting is reasonable. There is no universal number of weeks after which dismissal becomes fair.
If dismissal is proposed, ask for the evidence and the alternatives considered. Where disability is involved, ask separately what reasonable adjustments were considered and why they were rejected. The capability decision and the Equality Act analysis should not be merged into one sentence.
Fit notes do not decide every workplace question
A fit note is medical evidence about fitness for work, not a binding instruction to the employer about the exact job design. Where it says someone may be fit with adjustments, the employer should discuss what can realistically be implemented. If the suggested change cannot be made, the employee may remain not fit for work for the period of the note.
Occupational health can add job-specific advice, but workers should check the factual basis of any referral and report. If the report says duties, hours or symptoms are different from reality, raise the error promptly rather than letting it become the foundation for capability decisions.
Short-term absence, recurring absence and long-term illness are different problems
Repeated short absences may lead an employer to use attendance triggers, whereas a long continuous absence is more likely to require medical prognosis, occupational-health input and consideration of return-to-work options. A rigid policy should not replace an individual assessment where disability or pregnancy-related illness is involved.
If absences arise from different causes, do not let them be compressed into one vague statement that attendance is unacceptable. Ask which absences are relied on and whether any should be discounted or treated differently because of disability, pregnancy, workplace injury or another protected reason.
How sickness absence should be managed in practice
A sensible absence process separates pay entitlement from attendance management. You can be entitled to SSP while the employer is also entitled to keep reasonable contact, understand likely duration and manage operational impact. Ask which policy applies, what absence is being counted and whether the concern is pay, attendance, capability or conduct.
Return-to-work meetings can be useful for identifying continuing symptoms, support and recurring patterns, but they should not become automatic admissions of wrongdoing. If an absence trigger is reached, ask for the dates and calculation and correct any entry that is factually wrong.
What can you realistically ask for?
Match the requested outcome to the right involved. Some problems can be corrected internally; others have statutory pay, compensation or tribunal remedies.
- Correct SSP/contractual sick pay
- Adjusted absence triggers or return-to-work plan
- Reasonable adjustments
- Review/removal of unjustified warnings
- Fair capability process and consideration of alternatives before dismissal
Evidence worth keeping
Preserve the original record where possible. A short, dated evidence set is usually more useful than an unstructured dump of documents.
Common employer responses - and what they do not necessarily prove
| Employer says | ConsumerWise view |
|---|---|
| “You have no fit note, so we can stop pay immediately.” | For the first 7 calendar days, self-certification is normally sufficient; SSP eligibility still needs to be assessed correctly. |
| “Occupational health says no adjustment, so we do not need to consider one.” | OH advice is evidence, not the final legal decision. |
| “Too much absence automatically justifies dismissal.” | No. Capability dismissal requires a fair, evidence-based process and disability duties can change the analysis. |
| “SSP still has three waiting days.” | That is out of date for absences under the post-6-April-2026 regime. |
What to say next
Write in issue-remedy form: identify the event, state the rule or evidence that matters, ask the employer to explain its position, and request a concrete outcome. Avoid burying the key point inside a long narrative.
Important overlaps and edge cases
- Disability discrimination and reasonable adjustments
- Holiday accrual/carry-over during sickness
- Capability/performance procedures
- Contractual sick-pay schemes
What to do
A practical next-step plan
- Write down the event or decision, the date, who made it and the practical impact.
- Identify the legal or contractual right that may apply instead of relying only on the word “unfair”.
- Collect the smallest evidence set that proves the key facts and the employer’s stated reason.
- Use the relevant internal request, grievance, appeal or complaint route and ask for a specific remedy.
- Check Acas and tribunal limitation separately. Do not let a slow internal process cause an external deadline to expire.
Escalation and time limits
Internal procedures can be important, but they do not normally stop an employment tribunal time limit. As at 11 September 2026, most claims whose limitation period starts before 1 October 2026 still use the existing three-month-minus-one-day framework. For most relevant time limits starting on or after 1 October 2026, the period increases to six months minus one day.
Acas early conciliation can affect calculation of the deadline if Acas is notified in time. Some claims use different limits, and interim relief in qualifying dismissal cases can require action within only 7 days. Always check the specific claim rather than applying a general period mechanically.
Official sources
Check the current official source material
- Acas: Statutory Sick Pay - official guidance
- Acas: Fit notes and proof of sickness - official guidance
- Acas: Long-term sickness - official guidance
Employment law changes frequently. Check the live official source and the date of the workplace event before relying on a time limit, qualifying period or statutory rate.