Secrets, speedsters, ex-spouses

And totally modular, dude

ABOVE THE FOLD

SECRETS, SICK NOTES — It’s the ol’ sick-note switcheroo.

Health Minister SYLVIA JONES is looking to free up much-needed time for family physicians by bringing in an attestation-based system for employee sick notes.

Sound familiar? A quick history lesson: Back in 2018, the then-ruling KATHLEEN WYNNE Liberals banned the requirement for employees to provide their boss a sick note from their doctor when they took time off for an illness. After the PCs came to power, DOUG FORD repealed that move. Then, when Covid hit in 2020, the sick-note exemption was temporarily brought back, but only for the declared emergency.

Now, Jones says the government is looking to take some of the administrative load off of doctors amid a shortage and burnout.

As such, attestations would replace sick notes “that maintain accountability as employees request time off when they’re sick.” That will require a legislative tweak to the Employment Standards Act so that employers are banned from demanding…