We have an employee who has been off sick for a month since 21 January saying she has Sciatica. She has notified us by telephone of her illness but has not provided us with a doctor’s note until today. Our policy says she can self-certify for the first week and receive full pay but should then provide us with a doctor’s certificate if she wants to receive any further pay. The doctor’s certificate we have received today says the GP examined our employee on 15th February and that our employee should “refrain from working from 21/1/08 to 18/2/08”.
My question is how can the doctor possibly provide a medical certificate for Sciatica that is backdated a whole month from the date our employee was examined? I’ve spoken to ACAS and DWP and there’s nothing in law about this situation. Does anyone out there know whether it is ethical for a doctor to provide this medical certificate and if he/she is even allowed to provide a backdated certificate?
Many thanks.
Nick
