Hundreds of GPs around the capital will soon begin taking a new approach to time off work when they begin using the "fit note" instead of the sick note.

Seven of the city's GP practices have been experimenting for months with a certificate for sick or injured workers that tells bosses what their employees can do, instead of what they can't.

Fairfax Media first reported in May 2014 that public service workplace insurer Comcare was pushing for Australia to adopt the British innovation as part of its Health Benefits of Work program.

Comcare's research has shown the traditional approach of simply sending sick employees home and waiting for them to get better often does more harm than good.

The early experiments with the fit note in Canberra have been promising and now the new approach is ready to roll out across 400 more general practitioners around town.

Employment and public service minister Eric Abetz gave his seal of approval on Wednesday, indicating that he would like to see the fit note adopted by all Australian GPs after a successful trial.

The new certificate gives a GP options to nominate a patient for a phased return to work, different hours, a get-well program or changes to the workplace environment, none of which is available to Australian doctors at present.

Tuggeranong GP Rashmi Sharma has been using the fit note for about six months and is a fan.

"It does actually make you think about the patient in difference ways and I think it's very helpful to get patients thinking about what they can do rather than what they can't do," Dr Sharma said.

"The way the form's wording has been designed, it enables you to have that conversation with the patient.

"You fill this form out with the person in the room helping you fill it out and I think in the past we didn't always have those conversations."

Dr Sharma, the former chairwoman of the ACT's Medicare local network, said the fit note system gave insurers, employers and patients a voice in how injuries, illnesses and other causes of workplace absences were managed.

"One of the things that has been positive about the whole project is that we [GPs] have said things and changes have been made as result so it's been a bottom-up approach," she said.

"We've been very heartened that in developing this, it's not only been physicians and Comcare around the table, but it's been the rehab providers and it's been the unions and the employers, you've had all the stakeholders around the table."

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