Can you request a medical certificate for less than 7 days absence if felt appropriate/required?

If you pay company sick pay, you are free to choose what evidence of incapacity you require. This means that you could, in theory, require a medical certificate for all absences as a pre-requisite of paying company sick pay, although this is rare.

Generally speaking, however, self certification suffices and is usual for absences of less than 7 days. This position is taken as standard for purposes of expediency and to ensure that doctors are not over-run with making certifications for each and every day of absence. Many employers also follow this as it is in line with statutory sick pay (SSP) requirements. For the purposes of SSP, an employer cannot require a medical certificate for the