DOCTOR'S NOTES

If your illness is related to a workplace injury please inform the doctor immediately.

Depending on the number of days that you have missed work for illness, your employer may require you to provide a medical certificate from your family Physician. To find out about your employer’s policy, ask your team leader or supervisor, or speak to someone from your human resources (HR) or personnel department.

If you are unwell and unable to go to work, and need a doctor’s note, it is important that you are seen by the doctor while you are unwell. Even if you have already been to the Emergency Room, or seen a Home Visit doctor, or a Walk-in Clinic, you must be seen by the family doctor so that he may document the illness in your medical chart. The family doctor will then be able to provide you with a Sick Note, or Return To Work Note, as appropriate.

The doctor needs to examine you while you are unwell (or soon after the illness). This note must be signed by a doctor. The family physician may, at his/her discretion give advice to your employer about the impact of your illness or injury and may suggest common ways in which your employer can help you return to work such as allowing you to work part time or by changing your duties. For example, if you have back pain, the doctor may write that you are to avoid heavy lifting.

There is a charge for all notes provided or forms completed by the doctor for the employer or for school. Charges depend on the type of note or the form to be completed.

These notes are sometimes called Fitness notes. This note documents when you may return to work. Research studies have shown that work can play an important role in helping people to recover from illness or injury. It is important that the doctor sees you to assess if you are ready to return to work. The family physician may, at his discretion, give advice to your employer about the impact of your illness or injury and may suggest common ways in which your employer can help you return to work such as allowing you to work part time or by changing your duties. For example, if you have back pain, the doctor may write that you are to avoid heavy lifting.

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