UK: My online fit note was rejected and I was told to return — what are my rights?

Scenario

Your fit note follows a remote clinical assessment and says you may work with temporary changes. Your manager rejects the digital note and demands normal office attendance. You want to know whether you can remain off sick, ask for home working and receive sick pay.

What the law says

A properly issued fit note can be valid after a video or telephone assessment; digital delivery alone is not grounds to reject it. Check the authorised clinician and required details. A “may be fit” note calls for discussion, rather than guaranteeing home working. If suitable changes cannot be agreed, the same note can be treated as evidence that you are not fit for work without a replacement. If you meet the Equality Act disability test, the employer has a separate duty to make reasonable adjustments. Occupational-health advice may help assess what is workable.

What you can claim

Request a recorded adjustment assessment and the applicable contractual sick pay. For eligible sickness from 6 April 2026, SSP is payable from the first qualifying sick day for up to 28 weeks; in 2026/27 the weekly amount is the lower of £123.25 and 80% of average weekly earnings, apportioned for qualifying days. A fit note alone does not establish all SSP eligibility conditions.

A proved failure to make reasonable disability adjustments can support a discrimination claim for financial losses and injury to feelings, with no fixed payout or overall statutory compensation cap. It does not create an automatic right to a particular work location.

What the employee can do

1. Send HR the fit note, its coverage dates, your work limitations and proposed changes to duties, hours or location. Ask for the specific authenticity concern and a written adjustment discussion; agree how to report absence while this is resolved.

2. Ask payroll to calculate contractual sick pay and SSP. If SSP is refused, request the reason and form SSP1, then contact HMRC about a statutory-payment dispute. Keep the note, sick-pay records, proposed adjustments and attendance instructions; contact Acas or an employment adviser if discipline is threatened.

3. For a discrimination claim, identify the act or the end of legally continuing conduct. The usual initial tribunal limit is three months less one day if the relevant date is before 1 October 2026, or six months less one day on or after it. Notify Acas before the limit; early conciliation can pause it, but internal discussions cannot. Repeated discussions do not automatically restart the clock.

Common misconception, corrected

A genuine fit note is relevant medical evidence, not an unchallengeable order requiring home working. Suspicion about an online consultation also does not establish that the note is false.

Matching guides

Read Check current sickness-pay rules.

Read Keep a flexible-working request separate.