Employers in B.C. Prohibited From Requesting Medical Notes for Short-Term Absences

Recent amendments to the British Columbia Employment Standards Act (ESA) limit an employer’s ability to request medical notes for short-term employee absences. Effective as of November 12, 2025, employers in B.C. may no longer request a medical note from a healthcare practitioner for an employee’s first two medical absences of five days or less in a calendar year.

The purpose of the amendment is to reduce administrative burdens on healthcare practitioners and increase capacity to treat patients in need of medical care. In practical terms, employees are allowed to take up to two short-term, medically related absences of five days or less without providing a medical note from a healthcare practitioner.

Although employers cannot request medical notes for the first two short-term absences, employers may still request “reasonably sufficient proof” that the absence was due to illness or injury. This may include any adequate information that establishes the employee’s absence was due to illness or injury, such as a receipt from a pharmacy or a medical bracelet from a hospital.

Employers may continue to request medical notes in the following circumstances:

• When the employee’s absence is greater than five days
• When an employee has already taken two short-term absences of five days or less in a calendar year
• For the purpose of accommodating an employee under the Human Rights Code
• To assess whether an employee is fit to return to work following a workplace injury

B.C. employers should review and update their leave policies and ensure that human resources personnel are aware of these changes. Employers are encouraged to plan for and implement these updates promptly.

For more information, please contact any member of our Employment & Labour group.