Medical certificates obtained through a mobile application

Date: February 13, 2017

To: Directors/Chiefs of Labour Relations and Compensation, Public Service Pay Centre, Miramichi

Departments have reported the use of mobile applications (commonly called apps) by employees to obtain electronic medical certificates to corroborate their absences for sick leave with pay.

In accordance with the relevant collective agreement, and current practice in the federal public service, “an employee shall be granted sick leave with pay when he or she is unable to perform his or her duties because of illness or injury provided that he or she satisfies the employer of this condition in such a manner and at such time as may be determined by the employer”.

The method by which an employee provides satisfactory evidence is not specified and can vary on a case-by-case basis. Therefore, medical certificates obtained through an app or by other electronic means may be acceptable, depending on the circumstances, as long as the employer is satisfied that the employee was unable to perform his or her duties because of illness or injury, for the period requested.

Any expense incurred to obtain such services is the responsibility of the employee.

All questions should be directed to your Departmental Corporate Labour Relations or Corporate Compensation Official who, if required will direct their questions to the Compensation and Labour Relations group at the following email address: Interpretations@tbs-sct.gc.ca.

Original signed by

Kevin Marchand
Senior Director
Core Public Administration
Compensation Management
Compensation and Labour Relations
Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer