Paid Sick Days Policy Template, Federal Version

In 2022, Canada adopted Bill C-3 giving federally regulated employees up to 10 days of paid leave of medical absence per year. Here’s a template policy incorporating the new federal paid leave rules that you can adapt for your own use if you’re federally regulated.

  1. DEFINITIONS

For purposes of this Policy, “health care practitioner” means a person lawfully entitled, under the laws of a province, to provide health services in the place in which they provide those services.

  1. EMPLOYEE ENTITLEMENT TO PAID SICK DAYS

Employees will accrue at the beginning of each month after completing one month of continuous employment with ABC Company, one day of medical leave of absence with pay, up to a maximum of 10 days per calendar year.

  1. SICK LEAVE PAY

Employees who take paid sick leave in accordance with this Policy will receive pay at paid at their regular rate of wages for their normal hours of work, and that pay will for all purposes considered to be wages.

  1. CARRYING FORWARD OF PAID SICK DAYS

Each day of paid sick leave that an employee does not take in a calendar year will carry forward to January 1 of the next calendar year and count against the 10-day maximum for paid sick leave during that year so that the 10-day cap is not exceeded. Example: An employee with two carryover days of sick leave at the end of the year will receive eight additional paid sick days in the subsequent year.

  1. IMPACT ON VACATION ACCRUAL

[Insert if you base the calculation of employees’ annual vacation on a year other than a calendar year and use a year other than a calendar year to calculate the days of medical leave of absence with pay of their employees] Each day of medical leave of absence with pay that an employee does not take in the year used by ABC Company to calculate the annual vacation of employees is to be carried forward to the first day of the following year and decreases, by one, the maximum number of days that can be earned in that year under subsection (1.21), as modified by subsection 33.1(1) of the Canada Labour Standards Regulations.

  1. HOW PAID SICK DAYS MAY BE TAKEN

Employees may take their paid medical leave of absence in one or more periods, provided that such periods are taken in increments of at least one day each. Partial sick days will not be recognized or permitted.

  1. WRITTEN NOTIFICATION OF LEAVE

Employees who take paid sick leave of five (5) or more consecutive days must, within 15 days of returning to work, give the ABC Company HR department or other Company official a certificate issued by a health care practitioner certifying that the employee was incapable of working for the period of their medical leave of absence with pay.

Employees who take unpaid sick leave of three (3) or more consecutive days must give the ABC Company HR department or other Company official a certificate issued by a health care practitioner certifying that the employee was incapable of working for the period of their medical leave of absence without pay.