The BBC understands government officials are exploring other options, including so-called “stay in/return to work” plans developed with businesses and occupational health professionals. It is not clear if this would reform fit notes, or replace them entirely.
Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is one of 60 companies working with officials to see how this could look.
JLR has set up six “centres of wellbeing” for employees in the UK. Some of the focus is preventative, including exercise classes and NHS health checks. But the initiative also helps staff who need support with physiotherapy, counselling and occupational health.
Dr Richard Peters, JLR’s chief medical officer, said firms had “a part to play” in supporting people with health conditions in work, adding: “It’s the right thing to do because if we have a healthier staff, then we have a more productive workforce.”
But there are wider concerns about how this kind of help could be scaled up. Small businesses are already concerned about incoming changes to statutory sick pay, which will mean they need to pay from the first day of absence.
Tina McKenzie, from the Federation of Small Businesses, said: “Proposals to make small businesses pay for a service to provide occupational health advice, as well as fit notes, would add to these costs as well as piling on extra bureaucracy.”
Tom Pollard, head of policy and campaigns at the mental health charity Mind, said any move towards an alternative system needed to be “approached with caution” and “built around trusting and compassionate relationships”.
He added: “It is essential that people do not feel they are being forced to work when they don’t feel able to.”
Additional reporting by Vicki Loader and Amy Jackson.