We receive calls every week from dentists complaining about employees who are taking too many illness or disability related absences. Dentists are frustrated because in a small office the absence of even one employee can be incredibly disruptive. Ten percent of employees are unscrupulous and will abuse the right to take sick days. We also routinely encounter employees who are disciplined by the employer for not doing their job properly, and suddenly struck down with an undefined illness for an indefinite duration.

Employers cannot terminate employees on the basis of the employee taking time off due to illness. This is because under the Ontario Human Rights Code, the employer has a duty to accommodate the employee in respect of any disability. Continue reading →