Ontario will do away with sick note requirements for short absences as part of a larger effort to ease the administrative burden on doctors.
The province will soon introduce legislation that, if passed, will no longer allow employers to require a sick note from a doctor for the provincially protected three days of sick leave workers are entitled to. A spokeswoman for the labour minister said employers will retain the right to require another form of evidence from an employee, such as an attestation or a receipt for over-the-counter medication.
Read: Ontario giving employees three paid sick days, reimbursing employers
Health Minister Sylvia Jones said the province is also expanding a pilot program that uses artificial intelligence to summarize or transcribe conversations with patients to more than 150 primary care providers. However, she said the patient must give their consent to doctors to use the program.
The province said it will also digitize more referral and consultation forms and is working to improve the eForms platform. “Together these changes put patients before paperwork, allowing clinicians to spend more time with their patients, resulting in a more connected and convenient patient care experience,” Jones said.
Read: B.C. giving workers five paid sick days starting in 2022