The employee calls in sick for 2 days. Their manager wants a doctor's note because the workplace has always required one. A week later, another employee returns from a significant injury with functional restrictions that may change how safely they can perform the job. These are different circumstances. Manitoba's new sick note rules are designed to help employers tell the difference.
Since October 1, 2026, the Employment Standards Code restricts when a sick note can be required for a short absence caused by illness or injury. Manitoba's official guidance explains that an employer cannot demand a sick note where the absence is a week or less or where illness absences amount to 10 days or fewer in the same calendar year. Longer or more frequent absences may permit a note under the legislation. Where an employer requires a permitted note, the province also specifies reimbursement of reasonable charges after the worker provides timely proof of the cost. This isn't a reason to demand a note and offer to pay for it when the underlying request is prohibited.
Manitoba distinguishes a routine sick note from other medical documentation necessary for longer protected leaves, accommodation, safe return to work and insurance. The distinction protects privacy while preserving the employer's ability to address legitimate functional questions. A worker requesting an adjusted schedule after a major injury may need to provide appropriate restrictions, but that doesn't mean their supervisor is entitled to a detailed diagnosis or an entire clinical chart. HR should consider the actual purpose of each request and avoid distributing sensitive records to everyone who approves a shift change.
An attendance policy written before October may confuse categories that the new law separates. Review the thresholds, ensure managers understand how days are counted, identify who is permitted to request medical documents and specify where information is stored. Manitoba Regulation 106/2026 also preserves the new sick note rules for certain workers otherwise excluded from much of Part 2 of the Code, including specified household workers and regulated professionals. A broad assumption about an employee's exemption from employment standards could therefore lead to the wrong answer.
The law also now provides a separate attachment leave for eligible employees welcoming a child through adoption or surrogacy. This is a protected leave with its own timing and eligibility rules, not simply an illness absence or an employer's discretionary accommodation. That difference is worth recording in any broader policy review rather than merging every kind of absence into one request form.
In Binder Controlled, the companion article examines institutional care settings. Binder HR has also examined the scope of Regulation 106/2026 and the attachment leave legislation. Managers need useful information to run a workplace, but good judgment starts with knowing which information they're entitled to seek.