B.C. workers will no longer need to provide sick notes to employers

Photo: CTV News

Sick notes restriction will leave more time for patient care.

Workers in British Columbia will no longer need a doctor's sick note for short-term absences.

The B.C. government has announced changes to the Employment Standards Act that should ease the administrative burden on doctors related to sick notes.

"When you're sick, the last thing you should have to do is go to your doctor or a medical clinic in order to get a piece of paper saying you're sick," said Minister of Labour, Jennifer Whiteside.

"Not only is that difficult for a sick person to do, but it doesn't help you get better any faster or prevent the spread of illness."

The Canadian Medical Association estimates in 2024, B.C. doctors wrote approximately 1.6 million sick notes.

Right now, the act allows employers to request "reasonably sufficient proof" that an employee is sick.

The changes to the act will clarify employers can't request, and employees are not required to provide, a sick note written by a physician, nurse practitioner or registered nurse as evidence that the employee's short-term absence from work was related to illness or injury.

"We've heard clearly from doctors around the province that unnecessary paperwork robs them of valuable time to see their patients," said Josie Osborne, Minister of Health.

"Eliminating sick notes for short-term absences is just one of the actions we are taking to cut administrative burden, make our system more efficient, and free up health professionals to focus on what they do best — providing care to British Columbians."

The province is working to establish regulations following engagement with stakeholders. Those pending regulations will set out how many days is considered a short-term absence, and how often an employee may be absent before their employer can request a formal sick note. While the initial thrust of the regulations will deal with notes from doctors and nurse practitioners, the regulations may also consider notes from other health professionals.

The new regulation will start before the respiratory illness season in the fall of 2025.

In addition to addressing unnecessary sick notes, the regulation update will include replacing fax and paper-based processes with digital systems, streamlining referral processes, consolidating and standardizing forms, and improving information-sharing between providers.

Back in February, Jennifer Lush, a family doctor and vice president of B.C. College of Family Physicians, said physicians were burned out and overwhelmed with administrative work.

These new changes should help ease that administrative burden.

"As a result of a partnership effort with Doctors of BC and Health Quality BC, changes are being implemented related to the scheduling of medical imaging appointments, which are anticipated to save more than 180,000 physician hours per year," said a news release from the province.