Occupational form
Fitness-for-Work Form
A fitness-for-work form asks whether this person can do this job now, with or without restrictions. Employers, occupational health departments, and unions all print different PDFs. You are not assigning the person a job. You are describing medical restrictions in task language so the workplace can match them — or not.
Fit for which job
If the employer did not send a job description, ask for one. 'Fit for work' with no duties listed is how a firefighter and a receptionist get the same sentence. Safety-sensitive work (driving, heights, weapons, lone industrial posts, healthcare procedures) needs a higher bar for sudden incapacity and for drugs that sedate.
Diagnosis often does not belong on an employer form. Restrictions do: lift, carry, sit, stand, shift length, night work, respirator use, cognitive load, attendance reliability. If the PDF demands a diagnosis the employee has not authorized, refuse that field and complete capacity.
You do not manage the workplace
If no modified work exists, say the restrictions anyway. Occupying a job that cannot be modified is an employer problem. Writing 'fit' because otherwise they will be unpaid is a college problem.
Who completes it
Treating physician or NP, or an occupational medicine physician if the employer contracted one. A walk-in can complete a simple post-viral return. A post-MI return to a fire hall should not be a 7-minute stamp.
How to complete the form
- Job title and the duties you were given. If none, write 'duties not provided' and give generic restrictions.
- Fit / fit with restrictions / not fit, with a review date. Open-ended 'not fit' without a review is a file that never moves.
- Restrictions in numbers: kg, minutes, hours per shift, no on-call, no night driving.
- Medications that affect alertness, if the job is safety-sensitive.
- What would make them fit later (completed rehab, a specialist letter, a negative test).
- Whether this is also a workers' compensation file — if yes, this form does not replace the board's report.
Worked example (fictional)
Firefighter — 8 weeks after NSTEMI
Fictional 48-year-old. Do not copy onto a real employer form.
Job: career firefighter, full duties include interior attack, driving apparatus, night shifts. Job description on file. Event: NSTEMI 6 Jun 2026, stent, cardiology (Dr. Hale) 10 Aug: EF 50%, no residual ischemia on GXT, completed cardiac rehab. Today: asymptomatic, BP 128/78, on dual antiplatelet + statin + bisoprolol 2.5 mg. No angina on stairs in clinic. Fitness: not fit for interior firefighting or apparatus driving until occupational medicine / department physician reviews the cardiology package against the department standard. Fit for non-safety-sensitive administrative duties, day shifts, no lifting over 10 kg, 4 hours, review 25 Sep 2026. Diagnosis not listed on the employer copy (employee declined). Restrictions only. This is not a WCB form.
Why occupational health rejects the note
- 'Light duties' with no weights or hours.
- Fit for safety-sensitive work on a new benzodiazepine.
- Diagnosis dumped onto a form the employee did not authorize.
- No review date.
- Using this as an LTD or board report.
Draft the fitness-for-work form from the visit
In Scribeberry, open Forms, search for fitness for work, or upload the employer's current PDF. Generate from the encounter and your notes, then edit every field before you sign. Scribeberry does not pre-map this form. You still review and sign.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to give the employer a diagnosis?
Usually no. Capacity and restrictions are enough. If the form demands a diagnosis, the employee must authorize that disclosure. You can strike the field.
What if the employer wants them back tomorrow?
Write the restrictions that are true today. Scheduling is not a clinical certification.
Is this the same as a WSIB Form 8?
No. A board first-report is a different statute. Complete both if both apply. Do not paste one into the other.
Does Scribeberry send this to the employer?
No. Scribeberry helps you complete the PDF. The worker or you (with their direction) deliver it. Keep a copy in the chart.
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