What are my rights if my employer refers me to occupational health?

Full answer

An occupational health (OH) referral is when your employer asks an OH professional to assess how a health condition affects your ability to work, and to advise on adjustments or fitness for the role. It is common during long-term sickness absence, recurring short absences, after a return-to-work issue, or when an employee discloses a condition that may need support. Your rights centre on consent and access. OH cannot examine you or share a report without your consent. If the report is written by a doctor who has been responsible for your clinical care, the Access to Medical Reports Act 1988 gives you the right to see it before it goes to your employer and to ask for amendments or to withhold it -- though withholding may limit the support your employer can offer. Reports written by an independent OH physician who is not your treating doctor may fall outside that Act, but data-protection law still gives you a right of access to your personal data. Importantly, OH advises; your employer decides. The report typically covers whether you are fit for work, likely timescales, recommended adjustments, and whether the Equality Act 2010 may apply (for example whether your condition is a disability requiring reasonable adjustments). Your employer is not bound to follow OH advice but should have good reasons to depart from it. Who it affects: any employee, particularly those on sick leave or seeking workplace adjustments. Refusing to attend is generally your choice, but it can allow your employer to act on the information it already has, which may not be in your interest. There is no specific 2026/27 figure here -- this is an employment-rights mechanism rather than a tax or pay calculation. If absence affects your pay (for example a move onto Statutory Sick Pay or reduced contractual pay), use a take-home pay calculator to model the impact on your net income.

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