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Asking Employees For A Doctor’s Note Policy

HR managers in any part of the country can adapt this Model Policy for use at their own workplace.

  1. Policy

All ABC Company employees are required to meet the company’s attendance standards and submit a doctor’s note when they miss work due to an illness or other medical condition in accordance with the following requirements.

 

  1. When Doctors’ Notes Are Required

In most circumstances, employees will not be asked to submit a doctor’s note unless and until they miss three (3) consecutive days of work with a medical absence. Where possible, ABC Company will ask employees for doctors’ notes after they return to work so they can rest and do not have to leave their sick bed when they are ailing.

 

  1. Purposes Justifying Requests For Doctors’ Notes

ABC Company will only ask employees for a note from their doctor for the purposes of:

  1. Enforcing its attendance requirements;
  2. Verifying whether employees are complying with the terms of their attendance management program;
  3. Determining whether employees are eligible for sick leave, sick pay, short-term disability, and other employment benefits;
  4. Evaluating employees’ capacities to perform job functions as part of the process to provide reasonable accommodations under provincial human rights laws;
  5. Determining whether employees pose any health hazards to co-workers or others at the workplace; and
  6. Carrying out other legitimate employment-related functions.

 

  1. Information Abc Company Will Request From Doctor

When asking for a doctor’s note to carry out one of the above purposes, ABC Company will ask the employee’s doctor to provide only the information it needs to carry out the particular purpose and will refrain from asking for personal health information protected by privacy laws and/or information that reveals whether the employee has a mental or physical disability under human rights laws (except where the purpose of the request is to determine how to make reasonable accommodations for such a disability).