"Sick notes set up skewed incentives for everyone. For employers, they hinder trust with workers and replace effective management, which are important for retention, safety and productivity... For patients, it means they don’t take medical leave when they’re truly unwell: 8 out of 10 Canadians said they would go to work while ill instead of getting a sick note...
"Sick notes don’t benefit the patient, but are a service employers expect free of charge. Since public health insurance doesn’t cover them... requiring private payment from folks already disadvantaged by chronic illness, low income or precarious work is a “double blow” — unwell and out-of-pocket."
Read the full opinion piece in the Toronto Star: Sick notes are bad for everyone. So why not break the habit?
By
Edward Xie, an emergency physician and assistant professor at the University of Toronto.
Monika Dutt, a public health and family physician in Sydney, Nova Scotia, and a board member with Canadian Doctors for Medicare.
