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

CBC

12 hours ago

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.
"There are over 600,000 sick notes requested in Manitoba every year. 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."
Many sick note appointments are medically unnecessary and they cost taxpayers about $8 million per year, she said.
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 for employers to help them navigate cases involving short-term employee absences.
Earlier this year, the organization urged the provincial government to pass legislation limiting the need for sick notes in cases involving employee absences less than 10 days.
There have been similar campaigns launched by other Canadian physician advocacy organizations this year.
Desilets said employers want legislation to help standardize approaches to legitimate cases involving employees seeking accommodations and return-to-work requests.
Tory McNally, human resources expert and vice-president with Legacy Bowes, said removing the need for routine sick notes encourages a more "trusting, accountable workplace culture."
"From an HR perspective, sick notes have long been seen as a necessary formality, but in practise, 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.