How to use this tool
- Type your question in plain words. Leave out your name, contact details and symptoms.
- Pick your country if you can. Rules differ a lot from one country to the next.
- Pick a topic if you know it, such as sick pay or a sports certificate.
- Read the short answer, the rule behind it and the date we last checked it.
- Follow the next step, or open the matching tool for the full detail.
What can the assistant answer?
It answers rule questions that our data covers. That means how sick leave works in a country, and what a medical certificate needs to do in a few common situations.
The topics are:
- Sick notes: when you must tell your employer, how many days you can cover yourself, and when a doctor's certificate is needed.
- Sick pay: waiting days, who pays, at what rate and for how long.
- Sports certificates: when a club, federation or race asks for one, and who can issue it.
- Visa medicals: which countries list a medical certificate for some visas or permits.
- Fit to fly: typical waits after surgery, illness, a cast or diving, and pregnancy flight rules.
- Certificate format: what a genuine medical certificate usually contains.
- Online certificates, driving licence medicals and school or work exclusion periods, as each of those datasets is checked and added.
Every answer comes with the country, the date we last checked the rule and a link to the tool that covers it in full.
What will it not answer?
It will not tell you what is wrong with you, whether you are too ill to work, or which medicine to take. Only a doctor who assesses you can do that.
It also will not:
- write, change or backdate a medical certificate
- say that a certificate will be issued or accepted
- advise on a dispute with your employer, insurer or school
- answer from general knowledge when our data has a gap
- follow instructions hidden in a question that try to change how it works
When a question falls outside these limits, you get a short, clear reply and a pointer to the right tool or the right person to ask.
How does it find the answer?
It looks up the rule in our own records, then explains it in plain English. It does not search the web and does not rely on memory.
Each record holds one rule for one country, such as "when a doctor's certificate is needed in Sweden". The team builds these records from official government, social security and public health pages, and logs the date each one was checked.
The assistant matches your question to a country, a topic and a rule. It then writes a short answer using only that rule. A separate check compares every number in the answer with the record. If anything does not match, you see "We have not confirmed this" instead.
What does an answer look like?
Every answer has the same six parts, in the same order, so you can scan it quickly.
| Part | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Short answer | One or two sentences that answer your question |
| The rule | The rule from our records, in plain words |
| Country | The country the rule applies to |
| Last checked | The date our team last checked the rule |
| Next step | What to do now, such as telling your employer or asking your club |
| Matching tool | A link to the tool with the full detail |
Where it helps, a short note follows about getting a certificate from one of our doctors. It never appears with an emergency message, a refusal or a "not confirmed" answer.
Example questions and answers
These examples come straight from our rules records. They show how the assistant answers, including when it cannot.
How many days can I be off sick in the UK without a fit note?
- Short answer: Up to 7 days in a row. From day 8 you need a fit note.
- The rule: You can self certify for up to 7 days in a row. The 7 days include non working days such as weekends and bank holidays. A fit note can come from a GP, hospital doctor, registered nurse, occupational therapist, pharmacist or physiotherapist.
- Country: United Kingdom
- Last checked:
- Next step: Tell your employer by their deadline, or within 7 days if they have not set one.
- Matching tool: Sick leave rules by country
When do I need to give my employer a sick note in Germany?
- Short answer: When you are unable to work for more than 3 calendar days, unless your employer asks for one sooner.
- The rule: The certificate is due by the next working day after day 3 at the latest. Your employer may ask for it from the first day. You must report sick without delay. With statutory health insurance, your employer gets the electronic certificate from your insurer, but you still report sick yourself.
- Country: Germany
- Last checked:
- Next step: Check your contract or collective agreement, which can require a certificate from day 1.
- Matching tool: Do I need a sick note yet?
Can a nurse sign my sick note in Sweden?
- Short answer: Not for the certificate needed from day 8. It must come from a doctor or a dentist.
- The rule: The first 7 calendar days can be covered without a doctor's certificate. From day 8 a certificate is needed, and a nurse's certificate is not accepted.
- Country: Sweden
- Last checked:
- Next step: Contact your employer on the first day you stay home, because sick pay may not cover time before you reported sick.
- Matching tool: Sick leave rules by country
Do I need a doctor's note from day 1 in Ireland?
- Short answer: Yes, if you want statutory sick pay.
- The rule: For statutory sick pay you must be certified by a registered medical practitioner from the first day. Statutory sick pay is 70% of normal daily pay, up to €110 a day, for up to 5 days a year, after 13 weeks of continuous service.
- Country: Ireland
- Last checked:
- Next step: Check your contract, because a company scheme may give better terms.
- Matching tool: Sick pay calculator
How many days can I self certify in Bulgaria?
- Short answer: We have not confirmed this in our rules data for Bulgaria. We will not guess.
- The rule: Our records for Bulgaria do not yet hold a confirmed self certification rule. We do hold the sick pay rule for the insurer, which pays 80% of average daily gross earnings after the employer period.
- Country: Bulgaria
- Last checked:
- Next step: Ask your employer or check your contract.
- Matching tool: Sick leave rules by country
Do I need a medical check for a work permit in Malta?
- Short answer: Yes, for a first time single permit. The checks are done in Malta.
- The rule: First time single permit (work) applicants need a health screening approval. Tests are done in Malta through local providers, including a chest X ray for some applicants, taken within 6 weeks of the application. A certificate from an online doctor cannot replace this.
- Country: Malta
- Last checked:
- Next step: Plan the screening for your first weeks and ask the immigration office for the current list.
- Matching tool: Visa medical certificate requirements
My throat hurts and I have a fever. Is it strep?
- Answer: We cannot tell you what is wrong or whether you are too ill to work. Only a doctor who assesses you can do that. If your symptoms are severe or getting worse, contact a doctor now.
- Next step: If you want to know the sick note rules where you work, ask us about your country.
- Matching tool: Am I too sick to work?
Worked example: one question, start to finish
Here is what happens to a single question. The question is hypothetical; the rule is real and comes from our records.
Marta works in Belgium. She types: "Do I need a doctor's note if I am off sick for one day?" She picks Belgium from the country list.
- The red flag check finds no urgent symptom words, so the question goes ahead.
- The redaction step finds no email, phone number or long number, so nothing is removed.
- The assistant reads the topic as sick notes, the country as Belgium and the rule as self certification.
- It retrieves the Belgium record. The field is filled and the record is marked verified.
- It writes the answer from that record only. The checker confirms the number 3 appears in the record.
- The confidence score is high, so the answer shows.
Marta sees:
- Short answer: Usually not. You do not need a certificate for the first day of incapacity, up to 3 times per calendar year.
- The rule: This covers a one day absence or the first day of a longer one. Employers with fewer than 50 workers on 1 January may opt out, but only through an explicit collective agreement or the work rules. A certificate is needed when a collective agreement, the work rules or the employer requires it.
- Country: Belgium
- Last checked:
- Next step: Tell your employer straight away, and give your stay address if you are not at home.
- Matching tool: the sick leave rules page.
Her question is then deleted. All we keep is a coded line saying a sick note question about Belgium got a high confidence answer.
Does it say "we have not confirmed this"? Why?
Yes, and often. It is a deliberate choice. A wrong rule can cost you pay or a job, so a gap is safer than a guess.
Our records come from official pages. When the team could not confirm a rule on an official page, the field stays empty. The assistant treats an empty field as a hard stop. It will not fill it from general knowledge or borrow a rule from another country.
When that happens, the answer names who can tell you: your employer, your insurer, your club or federation, your school, or the consulate. It also links to the tool that shows what we do hold for that country.
Some topics are still being added, such as online certificates, driving licence medicals and school exclusion periods. Until each set is checked, questions on those topics get a "not confirmed" answer too.
Can it tell me if I am too sick to work?
No. Deciding whether you are fit for work is a medical judgement, and the assistant is not a doctor.
It can tell you the rules around being off sick: when to tell your employer, how many days you can cover yourself, and when a doctor's certificate is needed. For help thinking through symptoms, use our am I too sick to work guide and speak to a doctor.
If you type urgent symptoms, the assistant stops at once and shows emergency advice instead of an answer.
Is my question private?
We designed the assistant so that we do not keep what you type. Do not include your name, contact details or symptoms anyway.
- Your question is used to find and write the answer, then deleted. It is not saved in our logs, our review list or our analytics.
- Before your question leaves your browser, the page removes things that look like emails, phone numbers, long ID numbers and dates of birth.
- We keep only coded facts, such as "sick note question, Belgium, answered".
- There is no account, no login and no follow up by email.
- The share link only holds your country and topic, never your question.
- Questions we could not answer well go to a review list as coded entries only. Our team uses that list to fix and extend the rules, not to contact you.
How do you keep the answers up to date?
Each rule shows the date it was last checked. The team reviews every dataset at least every quarter, and sick pay rates when they usually change in January and April.
When several people ask about the same missing rule, it moves up the review list. Before any data change goes live, the assistant is retested against a fixed set of questions. That set includes trick questions, urgent symptom wording and attempts to make it break its rules.
If a rule is more than 6 months old, the answer says it is being reviewed.
When to see a doctor straight away
A rules question can wait. Some symptoms cannot.
Call 112, the free emergency number across the EU, or your local emergency number if you have:
- chest pain, or pain spreading to the arm, jaw or back
- sudden weakness or numbness on one side, a drooping face or slurred speech
- severe difficulty breathing
- a seizure, fainting or confusion
- heavy bleeding that will not stop
- swelling of the lips, tongue or throat
- thoughts of ending your life or harming yourself
If you type any of these into the assistant, it stops and shows this advice only. Contact a doctor soon if a fever lasts more than a few days or you keep getting worse.
How getmedicalcertificate.com can help
If the assistant tells you a doctor's certificate is needed, we can help. You describe your case online and one of our doctors reviews it. You pay only after the doctor has reviewed your case, and you get a full refund if the doctor cannot issue a certificate.
A certificate costs EUR 34.99, with no added fees at checkout. Approved certificates arrive as a signed PDF, usually within about 30 minutes of the doctor's approval. Each one carries a reference code anyone can check. We cover 42 countries in Europe and issue certificates in English.
A doctor always decides. We cannot promise a certificate, or that an employer, club or authority will accept it.
Ask your question, then request a certificate if you need one.
Frequently asked questions
It is an AI research assistant that answers questions about sick leave, sick notes, sick pay and medical certificate rules in 42 European countries. It answers only from rules data our team maintains from official sources. Each answer shows the rule, the country, the date it was last checked and a link to the matching tool.
No. The assistant does not diagnose illness, judge whether you are fit for work, sport, travel or driving, or suggest medicines. Those are decisions for a doctor who assesses you. If you describe urgent symptoms, it stops and tells you to call 112 or your local emergency number. It only explains the rules around sick leave and certificates.
The assistant answers only from our own rules records. The team builds them from official government, social security, public health and regulator pages, and logs the date each rule was checked. The assistant does not search the web or answer from general knowledge. If a record is missing a rule, it says "We have not confirmed this" instead of guessing.
It means our records do not hold a confirmed rule for that country and question. The assistant will not guess or borrow a rule from another country, because a wrong rule could cost you pay. The answer names who can tell you, such as your employer, insurer, club or consulate, and links to the tool showing what we do hold.
No. The assistant cannot write, change or backdate a certificate, and it never promises that one will be issued or accepted. On getmedicalcertificate.com a doctor reviews each case and decides. You pay only after that review, and you get a full refund if the doctor cannot issue a certificate.
No. Your question is used to find and write the answer, then deleted. It is not kept in logs, analytics or our review list. Before it leaves your browser, the page removes emails, phone numbers, long ID numbers and dates of birth. We keep only coded facts, such as the topic and country. Please leave out your name and symptoms anyway.
In the United Kingdom you can self certify for up to 7 days in a row, counting weekends and bank holidays. From day 8 you need a fit note. GPs, hospital doctors, registered nurses, occupational therapists, pharmacists and physiotherapists can issue one. Our team last checked this rule on 15 October 2026.
In Germany a doctor's certificate is needed when you are unable to work for more than 3 calendar days. It is due by the next working day after day 3 at the latest, and your employer may ask for it from day 1. You must also report sick without delay. Our team last checked this rule on 15 October 2026.
The assistant covers 42 countries in Europe, from the United Kingdom, Ireland and the Nordic countries to the Balkans, Ukraine and the microstates of Andorra, Liechtenstein, Monaco and San Marino. Coverage of each field differs. Where a rule for a country is not yet confirmed, the assistant says so and tells you who to ask.
Every answer shows the date our team last checked the rule behind it. Each dataset is reviewed at least quarterly, and sick pay rates around their usual January and April changes. If a rule is more than 6 months old, the answer says it is being reviewed. Always confirm important decisions with your employer or the official body.