Frame a management referral around specific job tasks, triggers and questions occupational health can answer.
Occupational Health & Safety
Occupational Health Referrals, Fitness for Work and Return-to-Work Planning
Learn to write clear management referrals, interpret occupational health reports and design phased return-to-work plans that keep employees safe and productive.
🗓️Duration5 training days
📚Content4 modules · 8 sessions
🎓On completionAccredited attendance certificate
About the programme
Course Overview
A referral that only asks whether someone is fit to work gives an occupational health adviser almost nothing to assess and gives the manager back a report they cannot act on. This course teaches managers, HR advisers and safety professionals how to frame a referral question around specific tasks, triggers and concerns, so the resulting report addresses what the workplace actually needs to know. Participants learn to read a fitness-for-work report and a fit note without over-interpreting diagnosis detail they are not entitled to see, and to translate clinical recommendations into workable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010. The course covers phased return schedules, temporary role changes, equipment and workstation adjustments, and how to run a case conference that includes the employee, manager and occupational health adviser. It also addresses confidentiality obligations, consent for information sharing, and when ill-health capability procedures become the appropriate route instead of further adjustment. By the end, participants can write a referral that gets a useful answer, build a return-to-work plan with realistic milestones, and manage a case where recovery does not follow the expected path.
Expected Learning Outcomes
Interpret a fitness-for-work report and fit note without exceeding the manager's entitlement to clinical detail.
Design a phased return-to-work schedule with realistic milestones and review points.
Apply reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act to roles, equipment and working patterns.
Run a case conference that keeps the employee, manager and occupational health adviser aligned.
Distinguish cases suited to further adjustment from those requiring an ill-health capability process.
Handle consent and confidentiality requirements when requesting and sharing medical information.
Who Should Attend
Line managers responsible for supporting employees through absence and return to work.
HR advisers drafting occupational health referrals and managing capability procedures.
Health and safety professionals coordinating workplace adjustments with occupational health.
Occupational health practitioners who want a clearer picture of what referring managers need.
Case managers overseeing long-term sickness absence and rehabilitation plans.
Union representatives supporting members through referral, adjustment and return-to-work processes.
Course Modules
Select any module to see its sessions and points.
01Making the Referral Count
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Framing Questions Occupational Health Can Answer
- Replace an open question about general fitness with specific task-related queries.
- Describe the physical, cognitive and environmental demands of the role in the referral form.
- State the workplace's concerns and any incidents or patterns that prompted the referral.
- Set out what adjustments have already been tried before occupational health is involved.
Session 2Understanding Consent and Confidentiality
- Explain to the employee what information will be requested and how it will be used.
- Obtain informed consent before requesting a report under the Access to Medical Reports Act.
- Separate the clinical detail an adviser holds from the workplace summary a manager receives.
- Store and share occupational health reports in line with data protection requirements.
02Reading Reports and Fit Notes
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Interpreting Fitness-for-Work Recommendations
- Distinguish 'may be fit for work' guidance on a fit note from an unconditional fit-for-duty statement.
- Translate clinical recommendations such as reduced hours or altered duties into a workable plan.
- Query a vague or contradictory report with the occupational health provider before acting on it.
- Recognise when a report signals a need for specialist assessment, such as ergonomic or psychological input.
Session 2Applying the Biopsychosocial View of Absence
- Consider work, personal and health factors together rather than treating absence as purely medical.
- Identify workplace factors, such as workload or relationships, that a report may be flagging indirectly.
- Use absence pattern data to decide whether a wellbeing conversation should precede formal referral.
- Balance support for the individual with fairness to colleagues covering their workload.
03Building the Return-to-Work Plan
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Designing a Phased Return
- Set a phased return schedule with hours, duties and review dates agreed by all parties.
- Sequence duties so early weeks avoid the specific demands identified as problematic.
- Agree how the plan will be adjusted if progress is faster or slower than expected.
- Communicate the plan to the immediate team without disclosing unnecessary medical detail.
Session 2Making Reasonable Adjustments Work in Practice
- Assess equipment, workstation and scheduling adjustments against the specific recommendation received.
- Trial a temporary role change and set a review date to confirm whether it should continue.
- Document why an adjustment was accepted, modified or declined as not reasonable in this context.
- Check that an adjustment made for one employee is applied consistently to comparable cases.
04Managing Complex and Long-Term Cases
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Running a Case Conference
- Prepare the employee, manager and adviser so a case conference has a clear agenda and outcome.
- Chair a case conference so the employee's voice shapes the plan rather than just receiving it.
- Record agreed actions, owners and timescales immediately after the case conference concludes.
- Escalate a case appropriately when agreement cannot be reached on suitable adjustments.
Session 2Recognising When Capability Procedures Apply
- Identify when adjustment options are exhausted and a capability process becomes the fair next step.
- Sequence capability meetings so occupational health input informs each formal stage.
- Explain the route to ill-health retirement or termination in a way that treats the employee fairly.
- Close a return-to-work case with a review point to confirm the plan remains appropriate.
What the participant receives
4 course modules
A structured syllabus
8 training sessions
across 5 days
32 detailed points
Applied, detailed content
Accredited attendance certificate
On completing the programme
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