Verify Medical Certificates & Stop Sick Note Fraud

The Reality of Medical Certificate Fraud in South Africa

With our assistance, you are now able to ensure that all medical certificates received from employees are, in fact, issued by medical practitioners who are registered and qualified to provide medical assistance and to issue medical certificates. The high level of medical certificate fraud currently faced in South Africa, has made it essential to verify medical certificates. Recent studies have shown that more and more employees are providing fraudulent medical certificates to get out of work.

Why Manual Checks Often Fail

Employees are able to simply purchase a medical certificate from a street vendor and this would not be picked up on by the untrained eye, therefore, a large number of employees are able to get away with providing their employers with fraudulent medical certificates without the fear of being caught.

Our Specialised Sick Note Verification Process

Verifying medical certificates is one of Searchlight’s specialised services where we confirm the actual information reflecting on the medical certificates as well as verify that the medical practitioner is, in fact, registered and qualified to do so. This service is unique to our company in that we have an entire department solely focused on doing sick note verifications.

Legal Requirements: What Must Reflect on a Medical Certificate?

Information that is required to reflect on a medical certificate:

• Initial and surname of the medical practitioner.
• Qualifications obtained by the medical practitioner.
• Medical practice number of the medical practitioner.
• Address and contact information for the medical practitioner.
• Name and surname of the patient.
• The date and time of the consultation.
• Should the medical practitioner recommend sick leave, the dates should reflect on the medical certificate.
• A short description of the illness, with the informed consent of the patient, should also reflect on the medical certificate.
• The medical certificate should contain the original signature of the medical practitioner.