The Patient Access to Care Act includes measures to reduce administrative burdens on healthcare providers, giving them more time to see patients. Schedule B of the Act, the Medical Certificates for Employee Absence Act is administered by the Labour Standards Division. This Act limits the circumstances in which employers can require employees to provide medical notes and broadens the scope of healthcare professionals who can provide them.
The following is intended to provide general information on the Medical Certificates for Employee Absence Act. For questions about this Act, contact the Labour Standards Division.
For example, if an employee missed six consecutive days of work (first absence), then two consecutive days (second absence) followed by four consecutive days (third absence) in a 12-month period, the employer could ask for a medical note for only the first absence. The employer could not ask for a medical note for the second or third absences because they are not more than five consecutive days, and the employee has not had more than two non-consecutive absences of five days or less in the preceding 12-month period.