The Province has implemented new rules for employer-requested sick notes. Under the new employment standard regulations, employers cannot request a sick note for “the first two health-related absences of up to five consecutive days in the same year.” B.C. physicians led this change, stating that sick notes are an unnecessary burden to physicians that take time away from patient care.
For more information about these new regulations, please see the article in the Times Colonist.
BC Family Doctors has a letter online you can use to explain the new regulations to employers requesting a sick note.
Medical Employment Insurance
Patients applying for Medical Employment Insurance need an appointment with their healthcare provider to determine the required recovery period. This assessment is medically necessary and requires a scheduled visit, and physicians may bill the patient directly for completing the necessary letter.
Sick Pay Benefits
Here is a refresher regarding how sick pay benefits are applied when your clinic staff request sick leave:
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When issued: The five paid sick days are available to eligible employees from January 1st of each year.
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Eligibility: Employees become eligible for the paid sick days after 90 consecutive days of employment with an employer. Once eligible they are entitled to the full five days for the remainder of that initial calendar year, and then a fresh entitlement of five days every subsequent January 1st.
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Carry Over: Unused paid sick leave days do not accumulate or carry forward from one calendar year to the next. It is a “use it or lose it” system at the end of December each year.
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Payment on Termination: Unused sick days are not paid out when an employee’s employment ends.
Under the Employment Standards Act, when employees go to work then fall sick and go home, they are entitled to count that as one full day of paid sick leave. Any time taken off for sickness on a given day, even one hour, counts as one full sick day and there is no “partial” sick day option. Click here for more info.
Please contact Tanis Wynn, In Practice Services Lead, with any questions at tanis.wynn@sidfp.com.