Employers are often unsure whether they have the right to ask
for doctor's notes (i.e. medical evidence) to justify employee
absences, and unclear on how much information such notes should
contain.
A recent decision from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice
confirms that employers are within their rights to require medical
notes when employees are absent from work. However, this decision
stands as a warning to employers that although they can ask, they
may not be able to summarily terminate an employee who fails to
comply.
Although vague or missing medical evidence wasn't a
sufficient reason to justify the employee's termination
in Sinnathamby v The Chesterfield Shop Limited,
the Court found that her failure to provide evidence to explain why
it took her so long to find another job was problematic. The Court
found that the employee had been wrongfully dismissed; however, it
reduced her notice period by 6 months due to her failure to
mitigate by looking for
