The government chose late on a Friday afternoon when I suspect many of you will have already left work for the weekend to publish its response to its consultation on the replacement for the GP sick note, usually referred to as the 'fit note' although formally called the 'Statement of fitness for work for social security or statutory sick pay'.

The most obvious change following the consutlation with HR, GPs, occupational health practitioners, employers, unions and other stakeholders is that there will not be an option to say a patient is 'fit for work' as in the draft version. Instead the options will be: 'you are not fit for work' or 'you may be fit for work taking into acount the following advice'.

The reason given for this is that employees will be empowered to make 'their own positive decisions to return to work' and GPs will not have unnecesssary appointments - presumably because their patients assume they need a doctor's permission to return to work.

The fit note will work if it improves communication between GPs and employees and encourages a partial return to work rather than allow people to slide into long term absence and possibly incapacity.

I would urge caution about some of the legal advice I've seen saying that this means GPs will have to find out more about their patient's work environment. This is not supposed to be the case, according to Dr Bill Gunnyeon, the DWP medical director who led on fit notes.

Gunnyeon said in September 2009 that GPs 'don't have to be aware of the individual's job, they merely have to list any potential functional limitatiosn. It is for the employer to address this with the individual employee.'

Are you ready to do this employers?