2023-07-03 22:27:56
The Nova Scotia government is announcing that employers in the province will no longer be able to require a doctor’s note if an employee is absent for less than five days due to illness.
Employers will be able to request a ticket if the employee misses more than five days of work or has, in the last 12 months, been absent twice for periods of five days or less.
Michelle Thompson, Nova Scotia’s Minister of Health, wants to limit the use of sick tickets. (File photo)
Photo: The Canadian Press/Andrew Vaughan
The provincial government says the new rule – which came into effect July 1 – is intended to ease the burden on family physicians.
In cases where a doctor’s note may be required, it may be done by various health care workers, including nurses, dentists, pharmacists, physiotherapists and social workers.
These new regulations apply to all provincially regulated employers.
Too much paperwork, denounce the doctors
Nova Scotia family physicians have often complained that patients who need a ticket because of illness are clogging up the system and preventing people who really need care from getting it in a timely manner.
Our healthcare professionals should be spending their precious time providing care, not doing paperwork, Nova Scotia Health Minister Michelle Thompson said Friday.
The Nova Scotia government estimates that doctors in the province spend regarding 50,000 hours a year filling out sick leave forms.
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