Do you legally need to tell your employer why you are off sick?

[janeseymour78]

My colleague has been off sick for a few days this week.

Our manager mentioned he needs to find out why because we have a new detailed system where you need to give the reason for sickness in a form.

This sent alarm bells ringing. Is this legally viable in the UK?

For example, I've been off sick a few days in the past due to endometriosis but my employers don't know I have this and nor do I want them to.

I've never heard of this before - seems intrusive.

No, she doesn’t. It generally helps for her manager and HR to know the cause because it may be work-related and, if ongoing, they may also be able to help with occupational therapy and advice. But she doesn’t need to divulge if she chooses not to, except to give her fit note to HR if she’s past the period for self certification.

Yes, particularly if they are being paid sick pay. They also would need to record it for future records, or disciplinary reasons. They also have a duty of care to the employee in case the sickness could be part of an underlining health issue.

I meant to say Legally No, but I would always tell my employer why I was off sick.

The system will be there primarily for a) demonstrating that the company carries out its duty in providing appropriate support to unwell staff and b) performance monitoring. It isn’t designed to be intrusive, the reasoning is that if you e.g. keep getting migraines then this could be due to VDU use and employer can recommend breaks, eye test etc. It may also benefit you, for example, for your employer to know you have endometriosis, rather than them assume that you’re just wanging a lazy duvet day when you fancy one. The reality is that if an employee would rather just say “general unwell feeling” about a couple of days’ of, or whatever, it’s up to them.

I agree with fitat50, obviously employers don't know if what you're telling us is the truth or not, and GPs seem to issue fit notes on demand. But we can support if we have an idea of what's going on, and make reasonable adjustments if the work is contributing to the illness. If you're hungover every Monday then I'm sure a regular pattern of absence would be noted and investigated at informal or formal absence reviews, but I'm sure people give other excuses for being off on these types of occasions.