Eliminating sick notes for Canadian employees would help remove the administrative burden for both employers and medical professionals, while also improving workplace trust, says Olivia Cicchini, human resources and employment law expert at Peninsula Canada.
The Canadian Medical Association is calling for the elimination of sick notes for short-term minor illnesses across the country, which could prevent as many as 12.5 million unnecessary health-care interactions in a single year.
“[Eliminating sick notes] is a positive for employers, and doctors for that matter, because it’s going to reduce administrative costs,” notes Cicchini. “And it will be faster because management can process those absences without waiting on a doctor’s note. But the negative is that there likely will be abuse of the policy, because employees essentially aren’t going to be held accountable for missing those days.”
Read: Ontario to do away with sick note requirement for short absences
To help reduce the chance of employees abusing the policy, she says employers can have a self-attestation system so employees can officially declare they were ill and unable to work. “It can be a simple form employees fill out to state why they were away and confirm the details. And if they do lie on those forms, employers can have it in their policy how they’ll be held accountable — maybe through disciplinary action — so it’s not just a free-for-all.”
As of Oct. 28, 2024, employers in Ontario are no longer able to require employees to provide a doctor’s note for up to three days of sick leave per year. The governments of Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador recently introduced similar legislation, with Newfoundland and Labrador proposing to remove the same three-day requirement and Saskatchewan suggesting stricter limitations for when employers can request sick notes.
Cicchini adds eliminating sick notes should hopefully result in establishing more trust between employees and employers. “Whenever you have trust in the workplace, it’s going to make people want to work for you. I think trust all comes back to a positive workplace culture. If you have that positive culture, you have open communication and trust amongst the employer and the staff. And establishing more trust with employees is always great for attraction and retention.”
Read: How employers can encourage employees to take guilt-free sick days
According to a recent survey by the CMA and Abacus Data, roughly a 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, and 72 per cent of respondents said they support legislation to restrict requests for sick notes for short-term leave.
Younger workers may especially appreciate the loosened restrictions around sick notes, says Cicchini. “Younger generations want more time off, but I think this won’t affect them as much if employers are offering flexible work already. The more employers implement flexibility, the more employees will [approach their sick leave without taking advantage].”
Also, if employees are offered support systems like employee assistance programs or telemedicine, they can help to reduce absences because people have more options to work through their issues and take preventative measures, she adds.
Read: 2023 Mental Health Summit: The connection between sick days and absenteeism, presenteeism