By Clark Wilson LLP
As we enter another flu season, it’s inevitable that employees will get sick and need time off work. With that in mind, employers should be aware of the new British Columbia legislation and regulations, which change when an employer may legally request that an employee provide a doctor’s note.
On November 12, 2025, the Lieutenant Governor in Council signed an Order in Council, amending the Employment Standards Act and the Employment Standards Regulation. These changes restrict BC employers from requesting sick notes when employees take short-term health-related leave. These new restrictions are aimed at easing the administrative burden on BC’s healthcare practitioners by reducing the need to write sick notes for employees. While this may be a welcome change for health practitioners, it has significant implications for how employers manage short-term illness and injury leave.
These amendments make it unlawful for an employer to request a “specific health record” when an employee takes “health-related leave” in “specific circumstances”. The quoted terms have been defined as follows: a “specific health record” is a note, document, or other record produced by a health practitioner for the purpose of proving a fact or circumstance in relation to the health-related leave; a “health-related leave” is an absence from work related to health, illness or injury; and “specific circumstances” are health-related leaves of no more than five consecutive days, where the employee has not taken more than one other such leave of up to five consecutive days in the same calendar year.
To summarize, an employer may not ask for a written note from a doctor, nurse, or other designated health professional for an employee’s first two health-related, short-term absences of five consecutive days or fewer in a calendar year.
The amendments to the Employment Standards Act only prohibit employers from requesting “specified health records”. Employers may still request reasonably sufficient proof of an employee’s illness. This may include copies of medication receipts or written attestations from the employee stating they are sick. Moreover, these medical note restrictions do not apply when an employer needs to determine whether an employee is fit to return to work or requires accommodations to do so.
With new legislation and regulations in place, employers and human resource professionals should begin reviewing and updating their existing policies and procedures to determine when it is appropriate or necessary to request a sick note. To minimize legal risk, businesses should seek legal advice to identify potential issues and develop policies that comply with the updated legislation.