The Employment Standards Code Amendment Act (Sick Notes for Employee Absences)
Chamber
manitoba
Stage
Introduced
This Manitoba bill limits when employers can demand sick notes and requires employers to reimburse employees for the cost of obtaining them.
Key Changes
- Employers can only require a sick note if an absence exceeds one week or the employee has missed more than 10 scheduled workdays due to illness/injury in the same calendar year
- Employers must accept sick notes from a broad range of health professionals, not just physicians
- Employers must reimburse employees for any reasonable fee charged by a health professional for writing a sick note
- Employees must submit proof of the sick note cost within 30 days of obtaining it, and employers must reimburse within 30 days of receiving that proof
- Unreimbursed sick note costs are treated as unpaid wages, allowing employees to file a formal complaint
- Midwives are added as an accepted provider of certificates for maternity leave purposes
Gotchas
- Employers can still require a sick note after just one absence if it lasts longer than one week, meaning short but extended illnesses still trigger the requirement relatively quickly
- Part-day absences count as a full day toward the 10-day threshold, which could affect how quickly the sick note requirement is triggered for employees with frequent partial-day absences
- Employers retain the right to require a 'return-to-work' fitness certificate from a health professional, which is separate from and not restricted by this bill
- The bill does not cap the cost of sick notes; it only requires reimbursement of 'reasonable' amounts, leaving potential disputes about what is considered reasonable
- The 180-day delay before the law takes effect gives employers and health professionals time to adjust, but also means current practices continue in the interim
Who's Affected
- All Manitoba employees covered by the Employment Standards Code
- Employers in Manitoba who currently require sick notes for short absences
- Physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, psychologists, and midwives who issue sick notes
- Healthcare system broadly, as fewer unnecessary doctor visits may be required
Vibes
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Gotchas
- Employers can still require a sick note after just one absence if it lasts longer than one week, meaning short but extended illnesses still trigger the requirement relatively quickly
- Part-day absences count as a full day toward the 10-day threshold, which could affect how quickly the sick note requirement is triggered for employees with frequent partial-day absences
- Employers retain the right to require a 'return-to-work' fitness certificate from a health professional, which is separate from and not restricted by this bill
- The bill does not cap the cost of sick notes; it only requires reimbursement of 'reasonable' amounts, leaving potential disputes about what is considered reasonable
- The 180-day delay before the law takes effect gives employers and health professionals time to adjust, but also means current practices continue in the interim
Summary
This bill changes Manitoba's Employment Standards Code to restrict how often employers can ask employees for a sick note (a document from a health professional confirming they were too sick or injured to work). Under the new rules, employers can only require a sick note if an employee has been absent for more than one week straight, or if the employee has already missed more than 10 scheduled workdays due to illness or injury in that calendar year. The bill also expands who can write a valid sick note. Employers must accept notes from a wide range of health professionals, including doctors, nurse practitioners, registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, psychologists, and midwives — not just physicians. If a health professional charges a fee for writing the sick note, the employer must pay that cost back to the employee within 30 days. The bill was introduced to reduce the burden on employees who must pay out-of-pocket for sick notes during short absences, and to ease pressure on the healthcare system caused by people visiting doctors solely to obtain workplace documentation. It comes into force 180 days after receiving royal assent.
Automatically generated from bill text using Claude
Vibes
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