In an effort to ease family physicians workload, both Ontario and Quebec are removing employers ability to ask for sick notes for absences under 3 days. Quebec has actually implemented possible penalties of $10,000 to $1,000,000 and starts Jan. 1, 2025.
Ontario announces the end of sick notes
On April 24, 2024, Ontario’s Health Minister announced that employers would no longer be permitted to request that a sick employee provide a doctor’s note to justify their absence. This change is part of new legislation proposed by the Minister of Labour, and is part of a larger initiative to reduce paperwork for physicians.
Under the current provisions in the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (“ESA”), employees who have been employed for at least two consecutive weeks are entitled to a minimum of three days per year of sick leave. The ESA currently allows employers to require employees to provide “evidence reasonable in the circumstances” that the employee is sick. Historically, this has included the option of a doctor’s note.
The amendment abolishing “sick notes” applies to employees when using the three days of statutory sick leave under the ESA. Moving forward, employers can still require employees to provide different forms of evidence supporting their illness, such as a signed self-attestation, but such evidence cannot involve physician intervention.
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Bill 68: When And How Can An Employer Request A Medical Certificate
As of January 1, 2025, employers will no longer be able to require their employees to provide a document attesting to the reasons for their absence due to illness (e.g. a medical certificate) to justify the first three (3) periods of absences due to illness lasting three (3) days or less over a twelve (12) month period. Bill 68 does not provide for any exception allowing the employer to request a document justifying the absence during these periods, regardless of whether the absence falls at a specific time of the year (for example, before or after a statutory holiday)1. The objective of this amendment is to reduce the administrative burden on healthcare professionals, who would otherwise have to spend time writing medical bills for short-term absences.
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