Employers should ditch sick notes to free up physicians, save taxpayers millions: Doctors Manitoba

Bryce Hoye · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 17, 2025 2:51 PM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hr ago

A doc advocacy enactment is underscoring the relation Manitoba employers tin play successful freeing up physicians to walk much clip connected diligent attraction and little connected paperwork by nary longer requiring their workers to get sick notes.

Eliminating sick notes successful cases of short-term unwellness would adhd an equivalent of 50 doctors — oregon 300,000 much diligent appointments — to Manitoba's health-care strategy per year, Doctors Manitoba president Dr. Nichelle Desilets said during a quality league Tuesday.

"Every sick enactment takes clip distant from patients who request aesculapian care," Desilets said. "That's concerning, due to the fact that Manitoba presently has the second-worst doc shortage successful the country."

More than 600,000 sick notes are requested annually successful Manitoba — many of which aren't medically necessary — and they outgo taxpayers about $8 cardinal per year, she said.

"We are each paying for sick notes, whether it's done our taxes oregon by waiting longer for the attraction that we need," said Desilets.

The "Sick of Sick Notes" run is the latest propulsion from Doctors Manitoba to "make Manitoba much doctor-friendly," successful part by reducing administrative burdens.

The associated website, created by Doctors Manitoba, includes guidance to assistance employers navigate cases involving short-term worker absences.

A commercialized for the run critiques and contrasts the existent strategy by showing employees of a fictional concern divulging idiosyncratic wellness issues to a visibly uncomfortable firm quality resources professional. That's followed by the message, "We don't nonstop aesculapian problems to HR, truthful wherefore bash we nonstop HR issues to the doctor?"

Similar sick enactment campaigns person been launched precocious by different Canadian doc advocacy organizations.

Earlier this year, Doctors Manitoba recommended the provincial authorities walk authorities limiting the request for sick notes successful cases involving worker absences little than 10 days. In March, Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said they had met with the enactment and the state was considering the proposal.

Desilets said instituting the alteration would align Manitoba with different provinces.

Newfoundland and Labrador has revised provincial Labour Standards Act provisions that antecedently required a sick enactment aft 3 days. Beyond that, employers are allowed to trade their ain in-house sick permission protocols.

Employers successful Nova Scotia can't inquire for a enactment until a idiosyncratic has been disconnected with an unwellness for much than 5 consecutive days. Quebec and Ontario person akin legislation, wherever the bounds is 3 days.

Saskatchewan proposed legislative amendments late past twelvemonth restricting employers from demanding a note, unless a idiosyncratic has been absent for 5 days successful a row, oregon has missed 2 oregon much days successful a enactment doubly successful a calendar year.

Encouraging a much 'trusting' workplace culture

Desilets said employers privation wide authorities to assistance standardize approaches to legitimate cases involving employees seeking accommodations, return-to-work requests and conditions of recurring illnesses.

Tory McNally, a quality resources adept and vice-president with Legacy Bowes, said removing the request for regular sick notes besides encourages a much "trusting, accountable workplace culture."

"From an HR perspective, sick notes person agelong been seen arsenic a indispensable formality, but successful practice, they often make much problems than they solve," McNally said.

"They don't connection existent penetration into an employee's quality to work, and they seldom forestall misuse. Instead they adhd administrative burdens for employers, summation unit connected our health-care strategy and tin adjacent discourage employees from staying astatine location erstwhile they're unwell."

The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority and Canada Life are immoderate of the organizations that person already done distant with sick notes for short-term illnesses, said Doctors Manitoba.

The NDP authorities has heeded erstwhile calls from Doctors Manitoba to trim paperwork for physicians, including a committedness soon aft being elected successful 2023 to a system-wide overhaul and modulation from insubstantial aesculapian records to integer documents.