Canada: Manitoba Establishes New Parental Attachment Leave and Restricts Employer-Required Sick Notes

On June 1, 2026, Manitoba Bills 10 and 11 received Royal Assent. These bills amend the province’s Employment Standards Code (ESC) to provide leave for employees following an adoption or surrogacy, and to clarify when, and on what terms, an employer can require a sick note for illness and injury.

Bill 10: Attachment Leave for Adoption and Surrogacy (in force June 1, 2026)

This new law amends the ESC to provide up to 16 weeks of unpaid attachment leave for employees following the placement of a child in the employee’s care for adoption, or the arrival of a newborn child via surrogacy.

Employees in Manitoba are eligible for this leave after working for the same employer for at least seven consecutive months and must provide notice to their employer at least four weeks before the day the leave is set to begin, unless the employee’s circumstances require a shorter notice period. However, the new law clarifies that employees who do not provide their employer with proper notice of their need for attachment leave are nevertheless entitled to this leave beginning on the first day the employee stops working.

Under the new law, employees may begin this leave up to six weeks before the estimated date of the placement, or the actual placement date, whichever is earlier, and may not end their leave later than 16 weeks after the actual placement date. Employees seeking to end their attachment leave early must provide notice at least two weeks, or the length of one pay period, whichever is longer, before the day they wish to end their leave. Employees who begin taking attachment leave but are subsequently informed that a placement will not occur may continue the leave for two weeks following this notice, but must inform their employer as soon as practicable of their intent to return to work early.

If two or more children are placed in the employee’s care through adoption or surrogacy in the same week, the employee is only eligible for one period of attachment leave. Additional circumstances under which an employee may begin caring for multiple children at a time but be entitled to one period of attachment leave may be prescribed through subsequent regulations.

Like maternity leave, attachment leave must be taken continuously and, if an employee elects to take parental leave as well, the parental leave period must immediately follow the attachment leave. Because this new leave is established under the ESC, employees taking attachment leave have the same rights and protections as for other statutory leaves of absence, including the right to return to their job, or a comparable job, with the same or greater pay and benefits when they return from leave. 

Bill 11: Sick Notes for Employee Absences (in force November 28, 2026)

This new law, once in force, will also amend the ESC, clarifying when an employer may require a sick note from an employee absent for illness or injury.

Under the new amendments, employers may not require an employee to provide a sick note when they are absent from work due to injury or illness unless:

• The employee’s absence lasts longer than one week;
• The employee has been absent from work due to illness or injury for more than 10 scheduled workdays (partial or full) in the same calendar year;
• It is required for the purpose of verifying a return to work after an absence; or
• It can be required under the ESC to verify the need for, or timing of, another statutory leave of absence (for example, maternity or long-term injury or illness leave).

These amendments also expand the scope of qualifying healthcare professionals who may provide a sick note. If an employer requires an employee to provide a sick note, they must accept documentation from:

• A physician, physician assistant, or clinical assistant;
• A registered nurse, nurse practitioner, registered psychiatric nurse, or licensed practical nurse;
• A psychologist;
• A midwife; or
• Any other class of healthcare practitioner prescribed through subsequent regulations.

Additionally, employers are required to accept sick notes from healthcare providers from outside the province if the employee’s care was provided in that other jurisdiction and the healthcare professional is licensed equivalently to a practitioner who would be able to provide a sick note in Manitoba.

Significantly, if an employer requires an employee provide a sick note in circumstances where it is permissible to do so, the employer is required to reimburse the employee for any reasonable amount that the healthcare provider charged the employee for providing the sick note. In these circumstances, the employee must provide their employer with reasonable evidence of their entitlement to reimbursement within 30 days of the charge, and the employer must reimburse the employee within 30 days of receiving this evidence. If an employer does not make the required reimbursement in this timeframe, this unpaid amount is deemed to be owed wages, and the employee is entitled to file a complaint for unpaid wages with the province within six months from the date the employee provided evidence of the reimbursement entitlement.

Steps for Employers

To prepare for these new changes, employers operating in Manitoba may consider:

• Revising policies related to requesting sick notes to address both the requisite absence lengths as well as requirements for reimbursement.
• Establishing policies for absence management to address attachment leave, including employee eligibility and interaction with other leaves.