Sick notes still required as PCs vote down change to P.E.I.’s Employment Standards Act [Video]

The governing Progressive Conservatives voted down a bill Wednesday that would have eliminated the requirement for doctor’s notes for sick employees in P.E.I.

The bill was brought forward by the Green Party, which invited Dr. Kay Dingwell to the legislature to help make its case.

Dingwell, who works in the emergency department at Prince County Hospital in Summerside, said sick notes serve little purpose.

She said doctors aren’t confirming people have colds or other minor illnesses, but the people coming in to get doctor’s notes are potentially spreading those illnesses to other vulnerable patients.

“If the patient is coming and telling me they’re sick, I believe them,” Dingwell said. “They’re giving me the same information they would give their employer. I am not adding anything to that. All this adds is a barrier to the patient taking time off.”

Premier Dennis King argued there has to be some rules in …