Your employer can’t legally fire you because you took sick leave that is protected by law or because of a disability. But being sick does not make every absence or every termination protected.
Sick-leave rights differ across Canada. The important questions are whether your absence was protected, whether you properly reported it, whether your illness is connected to a disability, and why your employer actually ended your employment.
If you were fired after calling in sick, don’t sign a release or accept a termination-for-cause allegation before your situation is reviewed. You can have rights to severance and, where the dismissal violated sick-leave or human rights protections, additional remedies.
On This Page:
- 1. Can You Be Fired for Calling in Sick?
- 2. When Sick Leave Is Protected
- 3. Illness, Disability & Frequent Absences
- 4. Can Calling in Sick Be Cause?
- 5. Doctor’s Notes & Medical Proof
- 6. What to Do If You’re Fired
Can You Be Fired for Calling in Sick?
Your employer can’t punish or fire you because you properly took sick or medical leave that is protected by the law that applies to you.
That does not mean every sick absence is automatically protected.
Your rights can depend on:
- The province where you work
- Whether you work in a federally regulated industry
- How long you have worked for the employer
- Whether you qualify for a job-protected leave
- Whether your illness amounts to a disability
- Whether you followed reasonable procedures for reporting your absence
Being off sick also does not make you immune from every legitimate workplace decision. The real question is whether your illness, protected leave or need for accommodation played a role in the decision to discipline or fire you.
Do you have to tell your employer that you’re sick?
Yes. If you can’t work, tell your employer as soon as reasonably possible and follow the normal call-in procedure where you are able to do so.
There is a major difference between properly reporting a legitimate sick absence and simply failing to show up for work without explanation.
Keep a copy of your text message, email, call record or absence-reporting confirmation if there is any chance the employer will later dispute whether you properly called in sick.
When Is Sick Leave Protected in Canada?
Sick-leave rules differ across Canada, but provincial and federal employment standards provide job-protected medical leave in many situations.
For example:
- Ontario: Most employees receive up to three unpaid, job-protected sick days each year after two consecutive weeks of employment. Ontario also provides qualifying employees with up to 27 weeks of unpaid long-term illness leave for a serious medical condition. See Fired for Calling in Sick Ontario.
- Alberta: Eligible employees can take up to five unpaid personal and family responsibility leave days for health or family needs after 90 days of employment. Serious illness or injury can also qualify for up to 27 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave. See our guide to sick days and medical leave in Alberta.
- British Columbia: After 90 days of employment, eligible employees can take up to five paid and three unpaid job-protected illness or injury days each calendar year. Longer job-protected leave is also available for serious illness or injury. Read our page Fired for Calling in Sick BC.
- Federally regulated employees: Employees can earn up to 10 days of paid medical leave each year and can have up to 27 weeks of job-protected medical leave. See our guide to federal sick days.
Can you be fired after using all your sick days?
Using all of your basic sick days does not automatically give your employer the right to fire you for your next medical absence.
A longer illness can qualify for another job-protected medical leave. If your condition amounts to a disability, human rights law can also require your employer to accommodate you.
There is no simple Canada-wide rule that says an employee can be fired after a particular number of sick days.
What If Your Illness Is a Disability?
If your illness amounts to a physical or mental disability, your employer has a duty to accommodate your disability to the point of undue hardship.
That protection can be much broader than a small number of statutory sick days.
Depending on your medical restrictions, accommodation can include:
- Additional medical leave
- Reduced or flexible hours
- A gradual return to work
- Schedule changes
- Temporary changes to your job
- Modified duties
Your employer should not simply count disability-related absences against you without considering its accommodation obligations.
See our guide to the duty to accommodate for the broader rules.
What if you call in sick frequently?
Frequent absences can become an attendance issue, but the employer must consider whether those absences are connected to a disability or another protected medical need.
For example, recurring absences caused by cancer treatment, migraines, depression or another disability cannot simply be treated the same way as unexplained absenteeism.
You also have responsibilities in the accommodation process. Tell your employer when a medical condition is affecting your ability to attend work and provide reasonable medical information about your restrictions when it is required.
The employer’s accommodation obligation is substantial, but not unlimited. Read about undue hardship if your employer says it can no longer accommodate your absences.
Can Calling in Sick Be Cause for Termination?
Being genuinely sick and properly reporting your absence is not just cause for termination by itself.
Actual misconduct is different.
Discipline can become legitimate if an employee:
- Deliberately lies about being sick
- Provides false or altered medical documents
- Repeatedly fails to report absences without a valid reason
- Refuses reasonable requests for medical information needed for a longer leave or accommodation
- Misuses a workplace sick-leave plan
Even then, being disciplined for an attendance problem and being fired for cause are not the same thing. Just cause is a serious legal finding that can eliminate severance.
Being told you were fired “for cause” does not make the allegation legally valid.
Do you have to find someone to cover your shift?
You should follow reasonable workplace procedures for reporting your absence, but don’t simply work while sick because nobody volunteered to cover your shift.
Your employer can ask employees to follow a shift-coverage process. But if you are legitimately unable to work and legally entitled to take the leave, staffing the workplace remains an employer responsibility.
Can Your Employer Ask for a Doctor’s Note?
There is no single Canada-wide rule for doctor’s notes after a sick day. The answer depends on the province, type of leave and reason the employer needs medical information.
For example, Ontario employers cannot require a certificate from a qualified health practitioner to prove entitlement to Ontario’s three basic ESA sick days. Different documentation can be required for longer medical leaves.
Federal rules also allow an employer to request a medical certificate when a medical leave lasts at least five consecutive days.
If you need disability accommodation, your employer can normally ask for enough medical information to understand:
- Whether you can work
- Your restrictions or limitations
- How long those restrictions are expected to last
- What accommodation you need
Your employer does not automatically need your entire medical file or every detail of your diagnosis.
What Should You Do If You’re Fired After Calling in Sick?
Keep the evidence and don’t sign anything until you understand why you were fired and what compensation you are owed.
Pay particular attention if:
- Your manager complained about your sick days before firing you
- You were warned that another medical absence would cost you your job
- Your shifts or hours were reduced after you called in sick
- Discipline started after you disclosed a medical condition
- You requested accommodation shortly before being fired
- You were dismissed while taking job-protected medical leave
- Your employer claims ordinary sick absences amount to just cause
Can you get compensation if you were fired for being sick?
Yes. A dismissal connected to protected sick leave or disability can involve compensation beyond an ordinary severance claim.
Depending on what happened, your rights can involve:
- Employment standards remedies for violating protected leave rights
- Human rights compensation if disability discrimination was involved
- Wrongful dismissal compensation if you did not receive proper termination notice or pay
- Full common-law severance when applicable
If you are terminated, don’t sign a release before having your full severance package reviewed—you may be owed as much as 24 months’ pay.
What should you save after the termination?
Keep copies of:
- Your termination letter and severance offer
- Texts or emails showing when you called in sick
- Attendance warnings and discipline
- Comments from your employer about your medical absences
- Medical documentation you gave the employer
- Workplace sick-leave policies
- Your employment contract
If you work in a federally regulated industry, you can also have special unjust dismissal rights. Eligible employees normally have only 90 days to file an unjust dismissal complaint.
Fired for Calling in Sick FAQs
Can you be fired for calling in sick during probation?
Probation does not erase protected sick-leave or human rights protections. Whether you also have severance rights depends on your employment contract and the law where you work.
Can you be fired for taking one sick day?
Your employer can’t legally fire you because you took a sick day that was protected by law. If the absence is not covered by statutory leave, the circumstances—including disability rights, your contract and workplace policy—still matter.
Can your employer fire you while you are still sick?
Your employer can’t fire you because you are exercising a protected medical-leave right or because of a disability. Longer absences can also trigger additional statutory leave and accommodation rights.
Can you get EI if you’re fired after calling in sick?
Possibly. EI eligibility depends on why your employment ended and whether Service Canada considers the termination to involve misconduct. An employer writing “cause” on a termination letter does not automatically decide your EI eligibility.
Get Help If You Were Fired After Calling in Sick
Calling in sick does not mean giving up your job or your right to compensation.
Samfiru Tumarkin LLP helps non-unionized employees determine whether a dismissal involved protected sick leave, disability discrimination, failed accommodation or an improper cause allegation.
If your employer fired you after a medical absence, our employment lawyers can challenge improper termination decisions and secure the full severance pay and compensation you are legally entitled to receive.