AB – If an employee injures themselves outside of work ie back injury from shoveling and they call in sick, should we be requiring a note from a physician for them to return to work.? The concern is someone will have a pre-existing condition and return to work not healed and would aggravate the injury and request WCB..

[Rory Lodge]

#102810

[Jeffrey Turner]

#103265

Yes definitely if the employee has requested an accommodation for the injury. Specifically, you can ask the employee’s physician to verify the disability and fill out an abilities assessment form enabling you to determine the employee’s capabilities, the jobs he/she can do and the accommodations you may have to make. https://www.wcb.ab.ca/assets/pdfs/employers/Fitness_for_work.pdf
If the employee hasn’t asked for an accommodation, things get trickier. First of all, doctor’s notes are strongly discouraged these days because policy makers don’t want employers to force employees to visit their doctor during the pandemic. So, DON’T ask for a doctor’s note if you’re simply seeking an explanation for the day he/she called in sick.
But if you need information about the employee’s medical condition to determine his/her fitness for the job, you can request it. Just make sure you can clearly document your concerns. Again, it becomes a matter of assessing capabilities and fitness for duty.

[Jeffrey Turner]

#103266

We’re of two camps her. So the staff in the example, is not asking for an accommodation. They are off due to an injury acquired outside of work. They just happen to let us know. What some people are concerned is that they will return to work, no accommodation and a week later, for example say they hurt there back and claim WCB when in fact they hadn’t recovered fully from the injury acquired at home. The other camp here believes that if someone injures themselves at home, they should be allowed to come back to work in the next day or two without a note. Neither of the examples involves an accommodation.

[Jeffrey Turner]

#103267

We have a Functional Assessment Form we have the doctor complete when staff are on WCB or require a modification but what happens if it is an at home injury and they say they are better and ready to return to work. Do we say no, not until we verify you are fit to work. Since it didn’t happen at work and no accommodation is being sought, we should be fine to simply allow them to return to work. Thoughts?

[Jeffrey Turner]

#103268

Without a doctor’s note make sure and document the injury as non-work related and be specific on what was the injury. Also include date and time and asked the worker to sign the document stating that they are fit to return to work. Question for Glenn. Are companies obligated to offer modified duties to workers for non-work related injuries?

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