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YES

As of 13 August 2026, AI can write your sick leave email.

Most people should do this themselves; the prompt is on this page.

Can you do it?

2 minutesto a draft.

5 minutesto something you’d act on.

Cost, all in£0

Skill needednone

Who has to check ityou

What the alternative costsGrammarly is an AI writing assistant that provides grammar, tone and rewrite support, although the supplied tool information gives no price.

If this goes wrong: the email contains the wrong detail or reaches the wrong person, so you correct it promptly using your workplace reporting process.

What to actually do

  1. Do it yourself

    The route this page recommends

    A chat interface, no skill needed, and roughly 5 minutes until you can act on the result.

    How to actually do it

    1. Open your workplace absence policy, staff portal or usual manager contact details and confirm who must receive the notification and how early you must report it.
    2. Gather your name, the date you cannot work, whether you know an expected return date, and when you will provide an update.
    3. Paste the prompt into an AI chat and replace every bracketed slot with the facts from your policy and your situation.
    4. Compare the draft against your policy and check the recipient, date, expected return information and update arrangement without adding a diagnosis.
    5. Copy the checked subject and email into your work email, confirm the address, and send it through the required workplace channel.
    6. Keep a copy of the sent message and follow the stated update process if your absence continues.

    Prompt

    Write a short, professional UK workplace email reporting that I am unwell and cannot work. Use only these facts and do not invent anything: recipient or team: [NAME OR TEAM], my name: [YOUR NAME], date I am absent: [DATE], whether I expect to return on a particular date: [EXPECTED RETURN DATE OR UNKNOWN], whether I will provide an update: [UPDATE ARRANGEMENT], and any workplace instruction I need to follow: [POLICY OR INSTRUCTION]. Do not include a diagnosis, medical advice, unnecessary health details or claims about sick pay. If a fact is missing, leave a clearly marked bracket for me to complete. Include a clear subject line and keep the email suitable for sending as written.

    Open it prefilled in ChatGPT or Claude, or copy it into Gemini, which takes no prefill link.

  2. Use a tool built for this

    Second choice

  3. Hand it to a person

    The distant third

    A person who owns the outcome does this end to end, worth it when the failure is dear.

What it gets wrong

  • AI cannot know your employer's reporting deadline, absence procedure or the correct recipient unless you provide them.
  • AI cannot decide whether your illness meets a workplace rule or whether you need a fit note.
  • AI cannot confirm that the message was received or recorded by your employer.
  • AI may make the message too formal or include health details that you did not intend to share.

Even on a YES, the friction has a name: context depth and stakes of error.

How we scored this

Five axes, each scored nought to two by hand: ten means AI carries the task cleanly, and the thresholds that turn a total into YES, PARTLY or NO are published in the methodology. Each axis name links to its definition.

AxisScore (0–2)
Output2
Inputs2
Verification2
Liability2
Effort delta2
Total10 / 10

The methodology and its thresholds are published in full.

FAQ

Can ChatGPT write a sick leave email?
Yes. It can turn the facts you provide into a short workplace notification, but you need to check the recipient and your employer's absence procedure before sending.
What should I include in a sick leave email?
Include that you are unwell and unable to work, the date of your absence, any expected return date and when you will update your employer. Follow your workplace policy about who to contact and when, and do not include unnecessary medical details.
Do I need to tell my employer what is wrong with me?
Not usually for a basic absence notification, but your employer's policy may ask for specific information or further evidence. Check the policy and share only what is required.
What should I do if my symptoms are worrying?
Do not use an AI chat to diagnose symptoms. For urgent or worrying symptoms in the UK, contact NHS 111 or use 111.nhs.uk, and use emergency services for an immediate emergency.

Nearby answers

All Workplace writing rulings

Assessed by gpt-5.6-luna (gpt-5.6-luna) on 2026-08-13, second-checked by an independent model. Wrong somewhere? Email [email protected] and it gets re-checked.

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