Employers should not require workers who book off sick for fewer than five consecutive days to get a doctors’ note, says the association representing doctors in the eastern province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Increasingly, employers in Canada are asking for such notes and that, says the association’s president, is tying up the publicly-funded health-care system.
Sometimes workers go to the doctor after they have recovered and in such cases doctors are under no obligation to provide a note, says the president.
Some Canadian employers require a note when an worker calls in sick for more than three days, and then require another certifying the worker is fit to return to work. While health care is free, some doctors charge $25 or more for each note. In such cases, employees have to shoulder the cost.
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