A few years ago, anyone needing time off work had to traipse down to the GP surgery, sit in a waiting room next to someone with a worse cough than theirs, and walk out with a slip of paper signed by hand. Now, a fair number of workers in the UK are getting their sick notes by video call, or by filling out a form online while still in bed.
The question that keeps coming up in HR forums and around office kitchens is: how legal are they?
Short answer: they’re legal. The longer answer depends on who issued it and what an employer’s policy looks like.
What Counts as a Digital Sick Note
Since 2022, the list of clinicians allowed to issue one has grown to include nurses, pharmacists, occupational therapists and physiotherapists, provided they’re registered. The note can be printed, posted, or sent as a PDF. The NHS confirmed a while back that fit notes no longer require a signature in ink, which opened the door to all of this.
When someone talks about a digital sick note, they usually mean one of two things. Either an NHS fit note issued after a phone or video consultation with their own GP, or a private one bought from an online service that uses GMC-registered doctors. Both can be legally valid. The thing that catches people out is the second category, where the rules get muddier.
Online Sick Notes and the Law
There’s no UK law saying a fit note has to be issued face-to-face. The Department for Work and Pensions guidance is clear enough on that point. What matters is whether the clinician signing it is registered and has carried out an appropriate assessment.
A GP doing a video call counts. A pharmacist conducting a remote review counts, as long as they’ve gathered enough information to form a clinical judgment.
Private online sick note providers like Hola Health operate in this space. They use GMC-registered doctors, who’ll ask a series of questions, sometimes follow up by phone, and issue a note that meets the same legal standard as an NHS note.
Online Sick Note Rules Worth Knowing
For the first seven days of illness, no fit note is needed at all in the UK. Self-certification covers it (form SC2, which the employee completes themselves). After day seven, a fit note becomes necessary for statutory sick pay. Anyone paying for an online sick note inside that first week is paying for something they didn’t legally need, though some employers do still ask for one, which is between them and their staff.
A valid fit note needs to include the patient’s name, the date of the assessment, the clinician’s name and signature (or electronic equivalent), the practice address, and a statement on whether the person is not fit for work or may be fit for work with adjustments. If any of those elements are missing, an employer can reasonably push back.
Electronic signatures are accepted. The UK moved to a digital fit note format some time ago, and the document doesn’t need to be a physical original. A PDF emailed across, or a photo taken on a phone, will do the job.
Where Employers Get Caught Out
The most common mistake is rejecting a digital fit note out of hand because it doesn’t look like the paper ones from twenty years ago. Some HR departments still ask for “the original,” which no longer exists for electronically issued notes. Refusing to accept a valid digital note could result in a tribunal if it leads to docked pay or disciplinary action.
The reverse mistake is waving any old PDF through without checking. If a note looks suspicious (no clinician name, odd formatting, a clinic the employee can’t quite remember), it’s worth following up. Most genuine providers will confirm a consultation took place when asked.
A small note on Statutory Sick Pay: SSP rules don’t care whether the fit note was issued online or in person. As long as the note is valid, SSP applies from day four of qualifying days.
So, Are They Valid?
For the vast majority of cases, yes. A digital sick note from a GP, nurse, or registered pharmacist is the legal equivalent of a paper one. A private online sick note can be valid, though the quality of the issuing service varies, and employers are entitled to scrutinise notes that don’t look right.
Anyone working in HR or running a small team would do well to update their absence policy to reflect that fit notes are now issued digitally. Old assumptions about paper and walk-in appointments no longer apply, and a policy that hasn’t kept up will cause more problems than it solves.
Hola Health’s online sick note service is run by GMC-registered clinicians, available seven days a week, with notes issued digitally and accepted by UK employers: Get yours here.