Manitoba Sick Note Rules Are Changing October 1, 2026: What Employers Need to Know
Updated: Oct 7
If your attendance policy says employees must provide a doctor's note after one or two sick days, it may be time for an update.
Starting October 1, 2026, new Manitoba employment standards rules will restrict when employers can require employees to provide a sick note for short-term absences caused by illness or injury.
Under the new rules, an employer generally cannot require a sick note when an employee is away because of illness or injury for one week or less, or when the employee has been absent for 10 scheduled workdays or less in the same calendar year.
And there's another important change: when an employer is permitted to require a sick note, the employer will generally have to reimburse the employee for the reasonable cost of obtaining it.
For Manitoba employers, that means now is a good time to review attendance policies, manager practices and any standard procedures that automatically require medical notes.
Here's what you need to know.
In This Guide
What's Changing With Sick Notes in Manitoba?
Bill 11, The Employment Standards Code Amendment Act (Sick Notes for Employee Absences), received Royal Assent on June 1, 2026 and comes into force on October 1, 2026.
The legislation changes when Manitoba employers can require employees to provide documentation from a health professional to verify a short-term absence due to illness or injury.
The basic idea is fairly simple:
Employers will no longer be able to routinely require sick notes for short-term illnesses or injuries.
That doesn't mean employers can never ask for medical documentation again.
It means there are now specific limits on when a sick note can be required.
When Can an Employer Ask for a Sick Note in Manitoba?
Under the new rules, an employer cannot require an employee to provide a sick note for an absence caused by illness or injury unless:
the absence continues for more than one week, or
the employee has been absent because of illness or injury on more than 10 scheduled workdays in the same calendar year.
Put more practically:
Employee has the flu and misses three days? Generally, you can't require a sick note.
Employee is sick for a full workweek? Generally, you can't require a sick note solely because of that short-term illness.
The absence continues beyond one week? A sick note may be required.
The employee has accumulated more than 10 scheduled workdays of illness or injury absences during the calendar year? A sick note may be required.
This is a significant change for employers whose attendance policies automatically require medical documentation after a relatively short absence.
How Does the 10-Day Rule Work?
This part is worth paying attention to.
The 10 days do not have to be consecutive.
Manitoba Employment Standards explains that an employee can miss up to 10 days in the same calendar year because of illness or injury, even when those days are spread throughout the year, before the sick-note threshold is crossed. Days within an absence of up to one week also count toward that annual total.
The legislation also says that if an employee misses part of a scheduled workday because of illness or injury, the employer may count that day as a day of absence when applying the annual threshold.
That means attendance tracking will become particularly important.
Managers shouldn't simply be deciding independently when someone has "been sick a lot lately" and requesting documentation. Employers need a consistent way of determining whether the statutory threshold has actually been reached.
Does This Apply to Paid and Unpaid Sick Leave?
Yes.
According to Manitoba Employment Standards, the restrictions apply to both paid and unpaid sick leave, including paid sick leave provided by an employer.
So an employer can't avoid the restrictions simply because its own sick leave policy provides paid sick days.
If your current policy says something like:
"Employees may be required to provide a doctor's note for any sick leave absence."
that wording should be reviewed before October 1.
Who Can Provide a Sick Note?
Another important change is that employers can't necessarily insist that the note come from a doctor.
Where a sick note can legitimately be required, employers must accept documentation from a range of health professionals who provided care to the employee in relation to the illness or injury.
Depending on the circumstances, that can include:
physicians
physician assistants and clinical assistants
nurses and nurse practitioners
psychiatric nurses
licensed practical nurses
psychologists
midwives
The legislation also accommodates certain equivalent health professionals providing care outside Manitoba.
Manitoba Employment Standards also confirms that an eligible health professional who provided care through telehealth can provide a sick note.
So a policy requiring a note specifically from an employee's "doctor" may also be too narrow.
Who Pays for the Sick Note?
This is another change employers need to account for.
If an employer requires an employee to obtain a sick note when the employer is permitted to do so, the employer must reimburse the employee for any reasonable amount charged by the health professional for providing the note.
Manitoba Employment Standards says the employee must provide proof of the cost within 30 days of obtaining the sick note, and the employer must reimburse the employee within 30 days after receiving that evidence.
That creates a practical administrative consideration for employers.
If you're going to require a sick note, make sure managers understand that there may also be a reimbursement obligation and know how the employee should submit the expense.
Does This Mean Employers Can't Ask for Medical Documentation?
No.
This is probably the most important distinction for employers to understand.
The new rules deal specifically with sick notes used to verify short-term illness or injury absences.
They do not eliminate an employer's ability to request appropriate medical documentation in other circumstances.
Manitoba Employment Standards specifically identifies documentation related to:
workplace accommodations
safe return to work
insurance
certain longer-term statutory leaves
as examples where other medical documentation may still be required.
The legislation also specifically preserves an employer's ability to request documentation confirming that an employee is fit to return to work after an absence where appropriate.
That's an important distinction.
"Prove you were sick for two days" and "We need appropriate information to understand your workplace restrictions and accommodation needs" are not the same request.
Employers should make sure their managers understand the difference.
What If You Suspect an Employee Is Abusing Sick Leave?
This is where employers may need to change their thinking.
A sick note has often been used as the default response to suspected attendance problems:
"You've called in sick too many times. Bring us a doctor's note."
After October 1, that may not be an available option for a short-term absence if the statutory thresholds haven't been reached.
But that doesn't mean employers have to ignore attendance concerns.
Instead, focus on managing attendance rather than trying to medically verify every short absence.
That can include:
maintaining accurate attendance records
having clear call-in procedures
consistently documenting absences
discussing attendance patterns with employees
distinguishing culpable attendance issues from legitimate illness, disability or protected leave
obtaining HR or legal advice when a situation becomes more complicated
For example, an employee repeatedly failing to follow your call-in procedure is a different issue from whether the employee can be required to prove they had the flu.
Those distinctions matter.
What Should Manitoba Employers Do Before October 1?
You don't need to overhaul your entire HR program.
But there are a few practical things worth doing.
Review your attendance and sick leave policies
Look for automatic requirements such as:
"A doctor's note is required after three consecutive sick days."
or:
"The company may require medical documentation for any sick leave."
Those provisions may need to change.
Review employment handbooks
If your employee handbook includes sick leave, attendance or medical documentation requirements, update the relevant sections.
Update manager guidance
This may be the most important step.
A beautifully updated policy won't help if a supervisor still tells an employee:
"You've been off for two days. Bring me a doctor's note tomorrow."
Managers need to understand when documentation can and cannot be requested.
Make sure you can track absence days
The annual threshold means employers need accurate records of scheduled workdays missed because of illness or injury.
Establish a reimbursement process
If you legitimately require a sick note and the employee incurs a reasonable charge for obtaining it, make sure payroll or HR knows how reimbursement will be handled.
Don't confuse sick notes with accommodation documentation
Medical information required to support an accommodation, long-term leave or return-to-work process is different from a basic note verifying a short-term illness.
When in doubt, get advice before requesting medical information.
What Does This Mean for Small Businesses?
For many small employers, the biggest change won't be the legislation itself.
It will be changing habit.
Small businesses often rely on relatively simple rules:
"Three days off means we ask for a doctor's note."
That's easy for managers to remember.
The new framework requires a little more nuance.
But it's also a good opportunity to review whether requesting a medical note is actually helping you solve the problem you're trying to solve.
If you're worried about attendance, manage attendance.
If an employee needs accommodation, manage the accommodation process.
If someone is on a longer-term leave, determine what documentation is appropriate for that leave.
And if someone has the flu for two days, a doctor's note may not tell you anything particularly useful anyway.
The Bottom Line
Starting October 1, 2026, Manitoba employers will face new restrictions on requiring sick notes for short-term illness and injury.
In general, an employer cannot require a sick note unless the employee's absence lasts more than one week or the employee has been absent because of illness or injury for more than 10 scheduled workdays in the calendar year. Employers who legitimately require a sick note must also accept documentation from specified health professionals and reimburse reasonable costs associated with obtaining the note.
For employers, the practical takeaway is straightforward:
Review your policy. Update your managers. And stop using the doctor's note as the automatic answer to every attendance issue.
Want to Read the Official Rules?
Manitoba Employment Standards has published a dedicated employer fact sheet explaining the new sick-note requirements, including examples, documentation rules and reimbursement requirements.
You can also review the legislation itself:
Need Help Updating Your HR Policies?
Employment standards change, but employee handbooks and manager practices don't always change with them.
A&A Consulting helps small and growing businesses review HR policies, manage employee issues and build practical HR processes that work in the real world.
