Employee Sick Notes: Soon Banned in Ontario

One of the most controversial documents in Canadian employment law may soon be banned – in late April 2024, Ontario’s Health Minister Sylvia Jones announced that Ontario employers will soon no longer be allowed to ask workers for a sick note when they want to use any of their three statutory sick days mandated by Ontario’s Employment Standards Act (ESA).

This new rule would essentially mean that an employee self-declaration of being injured or ill would be enough to qualify for the legislated sick days as provided for in the ESA.

The current Ontario provincial government apparently aims to amend the ESA to eliminate the need for sick notes in support of statutory sick days. The stated reason for this change is to allegedly reduce the administrative burden on family physicians. The related government’s press release which was issued on April 24, 2024 is titled “Ontario Helping Family Doctors Put Patients before Paperwork”. It remains to be seen what impact this may have on employer’s and their efforts to manage employee absences.

Currently the ESA allows employers to ask employee’s for a doctor’s note as long as the request is reasonable. The current rules often result in employer’s making sick notes mandatory, in some cases after a certain leave. And in response many physicians have a practice of providing notes which provide little or no information, other than to confirm that the employee is sick.

The Ontario Ministry of Labour, which oversees the ESA, has apparently being reviewing a number of alternatives to the doctor’s sick note, including: (1) a form which employee’s could sign to declare that they are injured or ill; and (2) accepting a receipt for medication as proof that the employee is ill. Many employers will likely correctly note that either of these alternatives is not particularly helpful, since they are both inherently prone to potential abuse.

This proposal only relates to ESA sick leave, and is not intended to curtail the rights under other forms of leave, whether under the ESA or as part of the employer’s benefits plans. The change would also not impact the rights of employers to request sick notes or other documents and information when circumstances warrant such a request. As a result, employers would still retain the right to manage employee absences (for sickness or otherwise) and will still be able to request relevant documents in connection with employee accommodation requests.