Employment Relations

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As an employer in South Africa, navigating the medical incapacity process can be complex and sensitive. If you have reason to believe that an employee may no longer be fit to perform their duties—whether due to illness, injury, or a medical condition—it’s essential to follow a lawful, compassionate, and procedurally fair approach.

The first step? Obtaining reliable and credible medical information that will inform the decision made.

What Is Medical Incapacity?

Medical incapacity refers to a situation where an employee is unable to fulfil their role and responsibilities due to a health condition (illness or injury) —either temporarily or permanently. The law requires that employers manage this fairly, and that includes considering whether any reasonable accommodations can be made before making decisions like redeployment or termination.

But before you can hold a formal incapacity investigation meeting, you need facts.

Where to Start?

If an Employee has informed you of a condition that is impacting their on their ability to perform their job, or you have noticed that an Employee is displaying symptoms or their work is impacted such that you suspect they may have a health condition that is impacting on their work, or an Employee’s absenteeism due to ill health or injury is of a frequency or duration that has become a concern – you need to start the incapacity investigation procedure.

The first step: Initiating a Fit for Duty Investigation

The first step is to request and obtain specific information from a registered medical professional. This information will be used in an incapacity investigation inquiry to determine whether the Employee is able to perform their tasks, duties and responsibilities as required by their job, and if they are not, whether it is temporary or permanent, whether reasonable accommodation can and should be made, and whether the Employee’s employment should be terminated.

Incapacity due to ill health or injury is regulated by Schedule 8: Code of Good Practice on Dismissals Section 10.

The information provided by the medical professional is required for the incapacity investigation inquiry for the chairperson to make the appropriate recommendation.

How to get the information?

I recommend making use of my Medical Incapacity / Fit for Duty Investigation Letter template that you can adapt and complete to send to the relevant medical professional.

I have used this specific letter in many incapacity cases, and it has proved to be effective in obtaining the relevant information that leads to a better incapacity investigation, and it has also mitigated legal risk for Employers at the CCMA.

This letter helps ensure:

• You gather the right kind of medical input
• You comply with legal requirements (e.g., consent, confidentiality)
• Your investigation process is fair, respectful, and properly documented

Adaptations to the letter

The letter starts with the following:

EMPLOYEE’S NAME has informed us that he/she is currently suffering from _________________ and this has had an impact on his/her ability to perform his/her duties.

Here are some suggestions for adaptations that may be better suited to your case:

• We have observed EMPLOYEE’S NAME display the following symptoms at work _________________. We have safety concerns, and the symptoms have had an impact on his/her ability to perform his/her duties.

• EMPLOYEE’S NAME has been absent from work due to illness/injury for an extended period of time. He/she has exhausted his/her paid sick leave, and we would like to obtain information about EMPLOYEE’S NAME’s ability to fulfill his/her job responsibilities.

• EMPLOYEE’S NAME has been absent from work on multiple occasions (please see attached a record of EMPLOYEE’S NAME’S absenteeism). We would like to obtain information about EMPLOYEE’S NAME’S ability to fulfil his/her job responsibilities and whether we can expect further absenteeism.

Other adaptations

The letter has three main sections:

1. The introduction above (adaptation suggestions provided)
2. A section to cover the Employee’s tasks, duties and responsibilities (this needs to be completed)
3. The questions for the medical professional.

Please complete the information in the second section, but please do not make adaptations to the third section.

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Carmen