Policy would foster ‘a culture of distrust of employees’
Canadian HR professionals should watch how Germany's move to eliminate phone-in sick days plays out, since the policy is among the most aggressive absence-management crackdowns of any major economy.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced Thursday that workers can no longer call in sick by telephone and must get a medical certificate on day one of illness, part of a 34-point package of pension, tax and labour reforms, Reuters reported.
The new requirement
Under the change, employees will need to see a doctor and produce documentation from day one of illness, rather than the previous grace period. Reuters reported the measure is meant to curb lost workdays.
Merz said the government "can no longer accept the extraordinarily high levels of sick leave," according to news.com.au, framing the change as necessary for economic competitiveness.
Merz said he intends to move the package through parliament by year's end. The sick-leave rule is paired with other changes, including expanded scope for fixed-term contracts up to 48 months through 2030, and greater flexibility for dismissal-with-compensation arrangements for high earners, Reuters reported.
Union and medical community pushback
The proposal has met resistance from labour groups and physicians even as business groups welcomed it, news.com.au reported. Frank Werneke, head of the services-sector union Verdi, said the policy would foster "a culture of distrust of employees."
Doctors' organizations raised a separate objection, warning that requiring in-person visits for minor illnesses would strain clinic capacity. The German Association of Family Physicians called the measure "an absolute catastrophe," saying clinics would be overwhelmed by patients who could recover at home.
Germans currently take an average of three weeks, or 15 working days, of sick leave per year — higher than France and most Nordic countries, though lower than Sweden, the Netherlands, Denmark, Poland and Italy, news.com.au reported.
Other elements of the reform package
Beyond sick leave, the package includes income tax relief worth more than €600 (US$685) for a family with two children, financed partly by raising the top tax rate to 47% from 45% for earners above €280,000, Reuters reported.
The plan also adopts pension commission recommendations, including a capital markets-based pension element and a gradual rise in retirement age, CTV News reported.
Additional measures target industrial competitiveness, including support for the automotive, chemicals and semiconductor sectors, an expanded Deutschlandfonds investment vehicle, and an 8% cut to federal staffing. Economists offered mixed reviews: Deutsche Bank's Marion Muehlberger called it one of Germany's "biggest reform packages in decades," per news.com.au, while DIW president Marcel Fratzscher described it as more symbolic than substantive.
International context
Germany's move stands apart from the direction other governments are taking on sick leave. Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers responded to the German changes by pledging his government would keep defending existing entitlements, saying workers should not have to sacrifice pay to take a sick day, according to news.com.au.
Australia's Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, Amanda Rishworth, said there was "no intention of changing the current personal leave entitlement settings," per news.com.au. Australia is separately reviewing whether to expand leave entitlements through a parliamentary inquiry into its National Employment Standards.
Recently, for the second time in two years, Prince Edward Island's governing Progressive Conservatives voted down a private member's bill that would have prohibited employers from requiring sick notes from absent workers.
Here's a table of sick leave entitlement rules (as distinct from sick note rules) across Canada, current as of July 2026.
|
Jurisdiction |
Governing Legislation |
Sick Leave Entitlement |
Source |
|
Federal (Canada Labour Code) |
Canada Labour Code, s. 239 |
10 days paid medical leave/year (3 days after 30 days' employment, then 1 day/month, up to 10; unused days carry over up to the 10-day cap), plus up to 27 weeks unpaid medical leave |
Government of Canada (ESDC) |
|
Employment Standards Act |
5 paid + 3 unpaid days/year after 90 days' employment; up to 27 weeks unpaid leave for serious illness or injury |
Canadian HR Reporter |
|
|
Alberta |
Employment Standards Code |
5 unpaid days/year (Personal and Family Responsibility Leave) after 90 days' employment; up to 27 weeks unpaid long-term illness/injury leave (raised from 16 weeks, January 1, 2026) |
Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt |
|
The Saskatchewan Employment Act |
No paid sick leave; 12 unpaid days/year for non-serious illness or injury after 13 weeks' employment; up to 27 weeks unpaid for serious illness (raised from 12 weeks, January 1, 2026) |
Government of Saskatchewan |
|
|
Manitoba |
The Employment Standards Code |
No paid sick leave; 3 unpaid days/year (Family Leave, used for personal illness) after 30 days' employment; up to 27 weeks unpaid Long-Term Illness or Injury Leave after 90 days (raised from 17 weeks, November 7, 2024) |
|
|
Employment Standards Act, 2000 |
3 unpaid, job-protected sick days/year after 2 consecutive weeks' employment; no statutory paid entitlement |
Government of Ontario |
|
|
Act Respecting Labour Standards |
2 paid days/year after 3 months' service, plus up to 26 weeks unpaid job-protected leave per 12-month period for illness or accident |
CNESST (Government of Quebec) |
|
|
New Brunswick |
Employment Standards Act |
Up to 5 unpaid days/year after 90 days' employment; no statutory paid entitlement |
Blaney McMurtry |
|
Labour Standards Code |
5 unpaid sick days + 3 unpaid days for medical appointments/family illness (8 total)/year; up to 27 weeks unpaid leave for serious illness or injury; no statutory paid entitlement for private-sector employees |
Government of Nova Scotia |
|
|
Employment Standards Act (new Act, Bill 76) |
4 unpaid days/year after 30 days' employment, plus paid days by tenure: 1 after 1 year, 2 after 2 years, 3 after 3+ years; up to 27 weeks unpaid medical leave |
Canadian HR Reporter |
|
|
Newfoundland and Labrador |
Labour Standards Act |
7 unpaid days/year (combined sick and family responsibility leave) after 30 days' employment; no statutory paid entitlement |
Littler |
|
Employment Standards Act |
1 unpaid day/month worked, up to 12 days/year; separate government-funded Paid Sick Leave Rebate program covers up to 40 hours/year for eligible employers (available until March 31, 2026) |
Government of Yukon |
|
|
Northwest Territories |
Employment Standards Act |
5 unpaid days/year after 30 days' employment; no statutory paid entitlement |
Government of NWT |
|
Nunavut |
Labour Standards Act |
No general statutory sick leave entitlement is set out in the Act for private-sector employees; the Canadian Labour Congress lists Nunavut's entitlement as "unclear" |
Canadian Labour Congress |
And here are the current sick notes rules across Canada:
|
Jurisdiction |
Governing Legislation |
When an Employer Can Require a Sick Note |
Effective Date |
Source |
|
Federal (Canada Labour Code) |
Canada Labour Code |
Only after an absence of more than 5 consecutive working days |
Since December 2022 |
Canadian HR Reporter (via Payworks summary) |
|
Employment Standards Act (Bill 11 amendments) |
Not for the first two health-related absences of 5 consecutive days or fewer per calendar year; can request after that, or for any single absence over 5 days |
November 12, 2025 |
HRD Canada |
|
|
Canadian HR Reporter |
||||
|
Alberta |
Employment Standards Code |
No statutory restriction — employers may request a medical certificate for illness leave provided the request is reasonable |
No restriction currently in force |
Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt |
|
The Saskatchewan Employment Act (Bill 5) |
Only after more than 5 consecutive working days absent, or after 2 non-consecutive absences of 2+ days each in the prior 12 months |
January 1, 2026 |
HRD Canada / Canadian HR Reporter (BC coverage referencing Saskatchewan) |
|
|
Employment Standards Code (Bill 11) |
Only after more than 7 consecutive days absent, or after more than 10 cumulative workdays of absence in a calendar year |
October 1, 2026 |
Canadian HR Reporter |
|
|
Employment Standards Act, 2000 |
Cannot require a certificate from a "qualified health practitioner" for the 3 ESA sick days; may request other "reasonable evidence" instead |
October 28, 2024 |
Government of Ontario |
|
|
Act Respecting Labour Standards (Bill 68) |
No document attesting to absence may be required for the first 3 short-term absences (3 consecutive days or less) in a rolling 12-month period |
January 1, 2025 |
Canadian HR Reporter |
|
|
New Brunswick |
Employment Standards Act |
Only if the absence is 4 or more consecutive days |
Longstanding provision |
Lexology (Blaney McMurtry) |
|
Medical Certificates for Employee Absences Act |
Only after more than 5 working days absent, or after 2 prior absences of 5 or fewer days in the previous 12 months |
July 1, 2023 |
Canadian HR Reporter |
|
|
Employment Standards Act (new Act, Bill 76) |
Only if the absence is 5 or more consecutive days (raised from 3) |
June 30, 2026 |
Canadian HR Reporter |
|
|
Labour Standards Act |
No statutory sick note requirement; employers may set their own documentation policy |
December 4, 2024 |
HRD Canada |
|
|
Yukon |
Employment Standards Act |
Employer may request medical documentation, generally for absences beyond 3 consecutive days |
Longstanding provision |
eWorkplace Training (jurisdictional summary) |
|
Northwest Territories |
Employment Standards Act |
Only if the absence is more than 3 consecutive days |
Longstanding provision |
HR Insider |
|
Nunavut |
Labour Standards Act |
No express statutory provision; many employers informally follow a 3-day threshold to align with neighbouring territories |
Not legislated |
HR Covered |
