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Return to work form
A return to work form is a short document you and your employee complete together after a period of sickness absence. It records the dates and reason, confirms they are fit to be back, and captures any support they need. This free template gives you a ready-made version to use after every absence.
How to use it
Have the chat first, ideally on their first day back, and keep it informal. It is a check-in, not a disciplinary. Work through the form together as you talk, note down any adjustments you agree, and set a date to review them. Both sign it, then keep it on file. Use the same form every time so your records stay consistent.
What's included
The template covers everything a return to work conversation should: the employee and absence details, the reason for the absence, and whether a fit note or self-certification was provided. There is space to check they are well enough to be back, note any reasonable adjustments or a phased return, and for both of you to sign the record off. Now, before the main FAQ, here’s a question worth looking into:
One form, or every absence in one place?
A form captures one absence well. What it can't show you is the pattern: who's been off, how often, and whether a run of odd Mondays is starting to add up. Having worked with hundreds of admins and team leaders of small businesses in the UK, we know that the answer is scattered across a year of forms in a drawer, never in front of you when you're actually having the chat.
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The policy wording
Return to work form
They do different jobs. A self-certification form is what an employee uses to record the reason for a short absence when no fit note is needed, for the first 7 calendar days of sickness. A return to work form is completed by the manager and employee together once the person is back, to document the absence and any support needed. One covers the absence itself, the other covers the return.
There is no fixed legal retention period. A return to work form usually contains health information, which is "special category data" under UK GDPR, and the ICO's rule is that you keep it only as long as you genuinely need it for a clear purpose, then securely delete it. You should set your own retention period in a data retention policy and be able to justify it, rather than keeping forms indefinitely.
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