The provincial government introduced legislation Tuesday that would ban employers from requiring sick notes for short-term absences. It is part of a larger effort to reduce administrative burdens on doctors and nurse practitioners.
Bill-11, the Employment Standards Amendment Act, fulfils part of the NDP’s campaign promise to speed up care and addresses a long-standing complaint from health-care workers.
Currently, employers are required by law to allow employees a minimum of five paid sick days a year and three unpaid sick days if they have worked for the company for at least 90 days. The employer can, however, require their employees to provide proof of illness, such as a doctor’s note.
Bill-11 would eliminate this requirement for short-term illnesses.
The extent of time a worker can be out sick before they are required to receive a sick note from their physician will be governed by regulations to be drafted after the legislation is passed.
Provincial Labour Minister Jennifer Whiteside told reporters in Victoria that the changes will not “compromise workplace accountability” but will simply allow workers to “recover without undue stress.”
“We will be consulting with health-care groups, with small businesses, employers, labour groups to lay out the practical details of these changes so that they work for everyone,” said Whiteside. “Questions such as the appropriate length of time to be considered for short-term absence, how many times in a calendar year a person can be on short-term leave without proof of illness.”
The minister did not address questions about whether businesses were consulted before the legislation was introduced outside of saying it is a measure the Canadian Medical Association has been calling for for a long time.
The Canadian Medical Association estimates B.C. doctors wrote about 1.6 million sick notes last year.
Health Minister Josie Osborne added that a working group established in collaboration with Doctors of B.C. continues to meet and will provide more recommendations to the government in the coming months on ways the province can further reduce administrative burdens on physicians.
Dr. Rita McCracken, a family physician and UBC assistant professor in the family practice department, said she awaits the details of the regulations, but is extremely supportive of the overall move to ban sick note requirements for short-term absences.
She said family doctors are already overburdened and the onus of sick notes has helped worsen the shortage of physicians in B.C.
“If an adult is feeling unwell and that they should not go to work, we all know as adults what our capability is,” said McCracken. “Let’s keep them out of family doctors’ offices and allow them to be the independent grown-ups that they are.”
In terms of where else B.C. can reduce the administrative burden for family doctors, McCracken pointed to the lack of standardization for requisitions and referral forms.
She used the example that a patient might get turned away if their physician uses the wrong form for services such as specialist appointments or home care referrals.
Ryan Mitton, director of legislative affairs for B.C. for the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, said he understands the challenges facing doctors, but that the reduction of administrative burdens should not come at the expense of small businesses.
He said confidence among business owners is already at an all-time low as companies face the threat of U.S. tariffs, and many stores will have to increase costs even further as a result of the partial elimination of sick notes.
“Primarily, what we’re looking for is some way to offset that cost for small businesses, whether it’s a tax credit, a tax reduction elsewhere, or direct funding from government,” said Mitton. “But when it comes to sick notes, it’s important we have some sort of flexibility and accountability to make sure that there’s no abuse in the system.”
With files from Canadian Press
