Ontario will prohibit employers from requiring sick notes in an effort to reduce paperwork for physicians, Health Minister Sylvia Jones announced Wednesday.
The new rules will remove the need for employees to provide a doctors note if they want to use part or all of their three days of provincially mandated annual sick leave. Requiring a sick note is currently allowed under Ontario’s Employment Standards Act.
Instead of a sick note, employees will be required to provide attestations “that maintain accountability as employees request time off when they’re sick,” Jones said. These attestations could include a form signed by the employee or a receipt for over-the-counter medication.
