You call in sick with a cold for one day, and your employer wants a doctor's note, so you spend two hours in a walk-in queue for a piece of paper. In 2025, BC changed that rule.
What changed
As of November 12, 2025, for your first two sick leaves in a year, each lasting up to five consecutive days, your employer cannot require a doctor's note. The province's reasoning is simple: sick notes eat up a lot of doctors' time, and sick people were lining up at clinics just to get proof.
When a note can still be required
- Your third and later sick leaves in the same year
- A single sick leave of more than five consecutive days
- When the employer needs to assess fitness to return to work or arrange modified duties
Do not forget the five paid sick days
A separate rule that is easy to confuse with this one: since 2022, BC employees who have been with an employer for at least 90 days get five paid sick days a year, plus three unpaid ones. The sick-note rule is about proof; the paid-days rule is about pay. They are two different things.
Who is not covered
This is a rule under BC's Employment Standards Act. Federally regulated industries such as banking, airlines and telecom follow federal rules instead, and unionized employees follow their collective agreement. Your onboarding paperwork or contract usually says which applies to you.
If your employer still insists
Start by showing them the new rule; often it is just HR that has not caught up. You can also contact the Employment Standards Branch for advice or to file a complaint, since they enforce this. Next time you are sick, you no longer need to drag yourself to a clinic queue just for a note.