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

A physician advocacy organization is underscoring the role Manitoba employers can play in freeing up physicians to spend more time on patient care and less on paperwork by no longer requiring their workers to get sick notes.

Eliminating sick notes in cases of short-term illness would add an equivalent of 50 doctors — or 300,000 more patient appointments — to Manitoba's health-care system per year, Doctors Manitoba president Dr. Nichelle Desilets said during a news conference Tuesday.

"Every sick note takes time away from patients who need medical care," Desilets said. "That's concerning, because Manitoba currently has the second-worst doctor shortage in the country."

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

"We are all paying for sick notes, whether it's through our taxes or by waiting longer for the care that we need," said Desilets.

The "Sick of Sick Notes" campaign is the latest push from Doctors Manitoba to "make Manitoba more doctor-friendly," in part by reducing administrative burdens.

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

A commercial for the campaign critiques and contrasts the current system by showing employees of a fictional business divulging personal health issues to a visibly uncomfortable corporate human resources professional. That's followed by the message, "We don't send medical problems to HR, so why do we send HR issues to the doctor?"

Similar sick note campaigns have been launched recently by other Canadian physician advocacy organizations.

Earlier this year, Doctors Manitoba recommended the provincial government pass legislation limiting the need for sick notes in cases involving employee absences less than 10 days. In March, Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said they had met with the organization and the province was considering the proposal.

Desilets said instituting the change would align Manitoba with other provinces.

Newfoundland and Labrador has revised provincial Labour Standards Act provisions that previously required a sick note after three days. Beyond that, employers are allowed to craft their own in-house sick leave protocols.

Employers in Nova Scotia can't ask for a note until a worker has been off with an illness for more than five consecutive days. Quebec and Ontario have similar legislation, where the limit is three days.

Saskatchewan proposed legislative amendments late last year restricting employers from demanding a note, unless a worker has been absent for five days in a row, or has missed two or more days in a row twice in a calendar year.

Desilets said employers want clear legislation to help standardize approaches to legitimate cases involving employees seeking accommodations, return-to-work requests and conditions of recurring illnesses.

Tory McNally, a human resources expert and vice-president with Legacy Bowes, said removing the need for routine sick notes also encourages a more "trusting, accountable workplace culture."

"From an HR perspective, sick notes have long been seen as a necessary formality, but in practice, they often create more problems than they solve," McNally said.

"They don't offer real insight into an employee's ability to work, and they rarely prevent misuse. Instead they add administrative burdens for employers, increase pressure on our health-care system and can even discourage employees from staying at home when they're unwell."

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

The NDP government has heeded previous calls from Doctors Manitoba to reduce paperwork for physicians, including a commitment shortly after being elected in 2023 to a system-wide overhaul and transition from paper medical records to digital documents.