Can They Fire Me for Calling in Sick? Understand Your Rights in Alberta

Can Your Employer Fire You for Calling in Sick?

Losing your job when you’re already sick is one of the most stressful things that can happen. The good news is that Alberta law provides real protections for employees who need to take time off for illness. The less comfortable truth is that those protections are not unconditional.

Whether you can be fired for calling in sick depends on how you reported the absence, how often you have been absent, whether your illness qualifies as a disability, and whether your employer followed the right process before making any decision. This article breaks down what the law actually says, where the limits are, and what to do if you think your employer crossed a line.

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Know Your Employer’s Rules First

Before anything else, check your employee handbook. Specifically, look for:

How to report an absence. Most employers want you to call before your shift starts, often an hour or two ahead. Using the wrong method or notifying too late can give your employer grounds to take action, even if your absence itself was legitimate.

When you need a doctor’s note. Many employers require one after three or more consecutive sick days. Some also ask for documentation if you have a pattern of frequent short absences. Know this threshold before you need it.

How absenteeism is tracked. Employers typically track absences over time. Patterns matter. If your sick days consistently fall around long weekends or scheduled days off, that will be noticed.

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Sick Leave Under the Employment Standards Code

Alberta’s Employment Standards Code provides important baseline protections for employees who need time off due to illness or injury.

Who is eligible. Employees who have been with the same employer for at least 90 days are entitled to job-protected long-term illness and injury leave. Employees with less than 90 days may still be granted leave, but employers are not required by law to provide it.

How much leave. As of January 1, 2026, eligible employees can take up to 27 weeks of unpaid leave per calendar year. Your employer is not required to pay wages or benefits during this period unless your employment contract or collective agreement says otherwise. Time spent on leave still counts toward your years of service.

What you need to provide. Before your leave begins, or as soon as reasonably possible, you must give your employer a medical certificate from a physician or nurse practitioner stating the estimated duration of your leave. You must also provide written notice that includes your estimated return date, and you must update your employer if that date changes. When you are ready to return, at least one week’s written notice is required.

Job protection. During a job-protected leave, your employer cannot terminate or lay you off, discriminate against you, or require you to resign because you requested leave. When you return, your employer must give you your same job back, or an equivalent one. The only exception is if the employer suspends or discontinues the business entirely.

Making a complaint. If you believe your employer is not following these rules, you can file a complaint under the Employment Standards Code. Complaints can be made while you are still employed, or up to six months after your last day of work.

It is worth noting that these protections set a floor, not a ceiling. If your illness is connected to a disability, additional protections under the Alberta Human Rights Act may also apply, as discussed below.

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You Have Legal Protections

The Employment Standards Code provides job protection during sick leave, but the Alberta Human Rights Act goes further. If your illness qualifies as a disability, it becomes a protected ground, meaning your employer cannot discriminate against you because of it. That protection applies to both physical and mental health conditions that substantially affect your ability to work.

When that threshold is met, your employer has a legal duty to accommodate you. That could mean modified duties, adjusted hours, or extended leave time, up to the point where accommodation would cause the employer undue hardship. Learn more about undue hardship here.

Accommodation is a two-way process. You have an obligation to participate in good faith, disclose the relevant limitations, cooperate with requests for reasonable medical information, and engage with options your employer puts forward. An employer cannot accommodate a need they do not know about, and courts and tribunals have consistently held that employees who refuse to cooperate with the process cannot later claim they were not accommodated.

Workplace discrimination based on illness or disability is taken seriously under Alberta law. If you believe your employer is treating you adversely because of a health condition, that is worth examining closely.

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When Your Employer Can Take Action

Protection is real, but it has limits. Here are situations where an employer may have legitimate grounds to act:

Repeated absences without documentation. If you keep calling in sick but never provide required paperwork, your employer may escalate through progressive discipline: a verbal warning, then written warnings, then potentially termination for cause. Learn more about termination for cause here.

Ignoring reporting procedures. Consistently failing to notify your employer the right way, at the right time, puts your job at risk regardless of whether you were actually sick.

Frustration of contract. If a long-term illness makes it impossible for you to perform the core duties of your role, an employer may argue the employment contract is frustrated. This can lead to a no-fault termination, meaning you did nothing wrong, but the working relationship is no longer workable.

Misuse of sick leave. If an employer has reason to believe you are using sick days for something other than illness, they have the right to investigate and may have grounds for termination. Patterned absenteeism, such as sick days that consistently fall immediately before or after scheduled days off, can support that inference.

Flawed investigation does not justify termination. If your employer investigates and gets it wrong, that matters. Courts will scrutinize whether the investigation was thorough, fair, and conducted in good faith. An employer who ignores exculpatory evidence or destroys records it had an obligation to preserve will not get the benefit of the doubt.

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What Not to Confuse With a Disability

Not every illness reaches the threshold of a disability under the Alberta Human Rights Act. A common ailment that resolves within a few days will generally not qualify. To invoke human rights protection, a condition generally needs some degree of severity, persistence, and ongoing impact on your ability to work.

That said, mental health conditions such as anxiety disorders, depression, and panic disorder can qualify as disabilities when they are diagnosed, ongoing, and affect your functioning at work. Employers who dismiss mental health conditions as personal choices rather than medical realities do so at their legal peril.

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What the Cases Say

Alberta courts and human rights tribunals have addressed these issues in concrete terms. Here are six decisions that illustrate how the law applies in practice.

1. Kadler v West Fraser Mills Ltd., 2026 ABCJ 28 Read the full decision. A mill worker stormed off the job after learning he was scheduled to work the Christmas shutdown, directing profanity at his supervisor and declaring he was going on stress leave. He subsequently provided doctor’s notes but was adversarial and uncommunicative with his employer and failed to provide Manulife with sufficient information to support his short-term disability claim. The court dismissed his wrongful dismissal claim. An employee’s obligation to explain a prolonged absence increases with its duration and the circumstances of their departure. Doctor’s notes alone do not discharge that obligation, particularly when the context of the absence raises legitimate skepticism.
2. Smith v Lafarge Canada Inc., 2021 AHRC 68 Read the full decision. An employee returned to work after a motor vehicle accident and provided medical documentation with portions whited out. His employer requested a Fitness for Work Assessment; he refused to participate. He was later terminated following insubordination and failure to follow attendance procedures. His human rights complaint was dismissed. His flu in November 2018 did not qualify as a disability. The case draws a clear line: short-term common ailments are not disabilities, and employees must actively cooperate in the accommodation process.
3. Cryderman v Time to Play ECS, 2020 AHRC 26 Read the full decision. A preschool worker with generalized anxiety disorder went on medical leave. Her employer communicated in writing that coverage was arranged and she was expected back in January. The employer then terminated her the day after her last medical certificate expired, alleging job abandonment. The tribunal found clear discrimination and awarded $20,000 in general damages. An employer cannot claim a disability was not a factor when it took adverse action the very day a medical certificate lapsed, especially after communicating expectations that pointed to a return weeks later.
4. Sinha v Memorial Square Dental, 2020 AHRC 90 Read the full decision. A junior dental administrator with multiple health conditions took frequent sick days but never told her employer those conditions were affecting her performance or that she needed accommodation. The employer had documented performance concerns and began seeking a replacement months before her termination. The complaint was dismissed. Occasional sick days without disclosure of a disability do not trigger a duty to accommodate. Employees bear responsibility for connecting their disability to their workplace needs. The employer cannot accommodate what it does not know about.
5. Syncrude Canada Ltd v Saunders, 2015 ABQB 237 Read the full decision. A process operator terminated after less than a year for poor attendance and performance issues brought a human rights complaint. The original tribunal found discrimination, but the Court of Queen’s Bench overturned the decision. The tribunal had failed to conduct any meaningful credibility assessment despite serious contradictions between the employee’s testimony and his medical records, and had not drawn an adverse inference from his failure to call his treating physician. The case establishes that to qualify as a disability, a condition must have severity, persistence, and ongoing functional impact. Unrelated transient illnesses do not meet that threshold.

Red Flags That Your Termination May Be Unlawful

Watch for these signs:

• You were fired specifically because of illness or sick days, despite following all company procedures
• You were let go while on sick leave and your condition qualifies as a disability
• Your employer failed to explore any accommodation options before terminating you
• Your termination letter is vague, inconsistent, or does not explain the reason for dismissal
• The employer destroyed or failed to preserve evidence that was relevant to the decision
• Your working conditions changed significantly after you disclosed your illness, which may amount to constructive dismissal. Learn more about constructive dismissal here.

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What to Do If You Think You Were Wrongfully Fired

Document everything. Save emails, written notices, and medical records. Write down the dates you were absent, when you notified your employer, and what they said in response. This paper trail matters.

Talk to an employment lawyer quickly. There are deadlines for filing wrongful dismissal claims, and an early consultation can make a real difference in your options. Learn more about wrongful dismissal here.

Why Legal Advice Is Worth It

If you have been terminated while sick, or believe your employer has treated you unfairly because of an illness or disability, getting proper legal advice early can make a real difference to the outcome.

• Get peace of mind. Know with certainty whether your employer acted lawfully, and what to do if they did not.
• Understand your rights. The interaction between employment standards, human rights law, and wrongful dismissal is rarely straightforward.
• Evaluate your severance. What your employer offers and what you are actually owed are often two different numbers.
• Identify all available claims. Your situation may involve wrongful dismissal, a human rights complaint, or constructive dismissal.
• Meet the deadlines. Missing filing windows can cost you your claim entirely, regardless of its merits.
• Level the playing field. Your employer had legal counsel guiding this decision. You deserve the same.

Book a case evaluation today. Get clear, practical advice from our Calgary employment lawyers.

Frequently Asked Questions