About one-third of working Canadians were asked by their employers to produce a sick note for a short-term absence at least once in the last year.
That will largely be a thing of the past.
Quebec, in an effort to curb doctors’ workloads by streamlining paperwork and unnecessary clinical visits, has joined the ranks of a growing number of provinces who are doing away with sick notes under some circumstances.
With Bill 68, An Act mainly to reduce the administrative burden of physicians, coming into effect as of Jan 1, 2025, employers may no longer request workers to provide written justification for three short-term absences, not exceeding three consecutive days, during a 12-month period. The new law, which amends the Act respecting labour standards, does not however give workers a free pass, point out employment and labour lawyers. Employees will still be required to inform employers as soon as possible about their absence and the reason for it, notes Naomi-Edith Barandereka, a Montreal lawyer with McCarthy Tétrault LLP. “It is important to note that Bill 68 does not prohibit the employer from asking the absent employee for the reasons for their absence, but rather prohibits the employer from asking the employee to provide a document justifying this absence during certain protected periods,” says Barandereka. Employers can also request documentation for absences due to family-related obligations, bereavement leave or compassionate care leave. Employers also have the right to monitor absences from the workplace, and impose disciplinary measures if they deem absences to be “questionable or clearly unjustified,” underlines Pablo Guzman, a Montreal lawyer with DLA Piper. “Employers should review and revisit their policies on requiring medical certificates to justify employee absences,” says Guzman. “Employers should consider bolstering language in their policies regarding unjustified absences and the disciplinary action that will be taken in the event of same in order to mitigate the potential impact of employees abusing the prohibitions in Bill 68.” A review of existing collective agreements will be essential in unionized workplaces, says Louis Thomas Bélanger, a Montreal lawyer with Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP. But there are doubts that will actually attain its objective and improve health-care efficiency. “It remains to be seen how many hours this will free up for concrete meetings with doctors for the population as a whole,” said in a brief the Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN), one of Quebec’s largest unions. “The CSN believes that, if the real objective is to improve the health system, the government should have given priority to other areas of the network.” A report by the Institut national d’excellence en santé et en services sociaux (INESSS) found that 2.1 million Quebecers were not registered with a family doctor in 2022-23, representing 23 per cent of the population. The Quebec government estimates that the new law would free up 600,000 appointment slots annually. The Canadian Medical Association (CMA) recently urged employers to stop requiring sick notes, describing them as a burden on the health-care system, and a human resources issue rather than a medical one. It asserts that eliminating the requirement could prevent as many as 12.5 million unnecessary medical visits annually. “We understand that organizations have policies in place to manage their human resources, but when 6.5 million Canadians don’t have access to a family doctor and patients wait far too long for specialty care, physicians need to focus their time caring for patients who need medical care,” says CMA president Dr. Joss Reimer. “We need to be there for patients who need us when they need us.” The Ontario government too is forging ahead with legislation that will restrict employers from requesting sick notes, something that Nova Scotia did back in 2023.
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