Medical Documentation to Support LOA

[Aleesha Van Damme]

#108278

Forum: Private

Hi there,

We deal with a lot of leaves of absence, and at times there will be slight delays in providing supporting medical documentation; however, I have an employee who has been on leave for more than two months and although several deadlines and instructions to provide us with supporting medical forms, which outline an expected return-to-work date, have been made and passed. We still have not received anything. This employee does communicate but does not provide what’s needed. I’m wondering what steps I can take at this stage. I understand there are human rights protections, and that employees also have a duty to cooperate with the employer. We do not currently have any policy which outlines requirements to provide medical documentation to support a LOA and would be going strictly off ESA requirements.

Thank you.

[Haley O’Halloran]

#108282

You are correct that there is a balance between an employer’s duty to accommodate under human rights legislation and an employee’s corresponding duty to participate in the accommodation process. Where an employee is absent for medical reasons, the employer is generally entitled to request reasonable information necessary to understand whether the absence is medically supported, the employee’s functional limitations or restrictions, and, where possible, the anticipated duration of the absence or a timeframe for reassessment. The employee would not ordinarily be required to disclose a specific diagnosis unless there are exceptional circumstances that make that information reasonably necessary.

Given that more than two months have passed and several reasonable deadlines have apparently been missed, the next step would typically be to provide the employee with a clear written request outlining exactly what information is still required, a final reasonable deadline for providing it, and the consequences if the information is not received. The communication should acknowledge that there may be legitimate reasons for delays in obtaining medical documentation and invite the employee to advise you promptly if they are experiencing difficulty meeting the deadline. It is also important to document the requests, deadlines, responses, and any explanations provided by the employee, as this demonstrates the employer’s continued efforts to obtain the information necessary to assess and support the leave.

If the employee continues to communicate but does not provide the required information or a reasonable explanation for being unable to obtain it, you may eventually be in a position to advise that you cannot continue to substantiate or administer the absence as a medically supported leave without appropriate documentation. However, I would exercise caution before moving directly to discipline or termination, particularly if a disability may be involved. The applicable employment standards and human rights requirements should be reviewed for your province, and given the length of the absence and repeated non-compliance, obtaining legal advice before taking a step that could affect the employee’s employment would be prudent. The absence of a formal medical-leave policy does not necessarily prevent you from requesting reasonable supporting information, but implementing a consistent written policy going forward would help establish expectations and ensure similar situations are handled consistently.

-HRInsider Staff

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