The Ford government is thinking about making changes, so your boss can demand a note from your doctor if you stay home sick, but the Canadian Medical Association wishes it would not.
The government is currently taking submissions on a proposal to reinstate a provision of the Labour Code that allowed the practice before the former Liberal government got rid of it.
The Ministry of Labour has said it will encourage investment and job growth in Ontario by "making sure hard work is rewarded," but Dr. Gigi Osler, president of the association, said it would just encourage greater absenteeism.
"Now you've got folks who are sick going into workplaces and potentially spreading that cold or that flu amongst their coworkers," said Osler. "It goes against what employers would probably want to see."
She pointed to a recent survey by Ipsos which suggested if people had to produce a sick note for short-term illness, 80 per cent would likely just go into work.
Not only does Osler believe it will be bad for patients, she told BlackburnNews.com it would put more stress on an already burdened health care system.
"Requiring sick notes will contribute to the burden on an already burdened healthcare system," she said. "When the previous government got rid of the requirement across the country, many medical associations and the public thought that was bold and a sign of leadership."
Osler said doctors believe their patients when they say they are ill, and in some circumstances going to a doctors office is not going to prove illness.
"There are many illnesses where we don't have a simple test for, like the common cold," she said. "I have faith in the public. I have faith in people. I have faith that people will go to work when they're able to go to work, and if they say they're sick and need a day or two to rest and recover, I think that's in their best interests."
The association plans to continue to lobby the government to reconsider reinstating the provision.
"I think it would show positive leadership from them from a public health perspective," said Osler. "It would align with the advice we give our patients, when you are sick, stay home, rest and recover."
