AbsentEase
Saskatchewan sick leave law & call-off rules
Saskatchewan has no paid sick days, but it protects more unpaid ones than most provinces: twelve days a year for illness or injury that is not serious, and since January 1, 2026 27 weeks for a serious one, for anyone past thirteen weeks of service. The same amendments require sick-note requests to be in writing and only after five consecutive working days, and give the Director the power to order reinstatement. Here is what applies in 2026.
Saskatchewan at a glance
| Statute | The Saskatchewan Employment Act (SS 2013, c. S-15.1), Part II · enforced by Saskatchewan Employment Standards, Ministry of Labour Relations and Workplace Safety (1-800-667-1783) |
|---|---|
| Statutory sick leave | 12 job-protected days a year for non-serious illness, 27 weeks for serious illness, after 13 weeks' service; unpaid |
| Doctor's note | In writing only, after more than 5 consecutive working days or a repeat absence of 2+ days in 12 months |
| Notice of termination | 1 to 8 weeks by length of service after 13 weeks |
| Final pay | Within 14 days of the last day of work |
| Vacation pay | 3/52 of wages (3 weeks), 4/52 after 10 years, always paid out; none on pay in lieu of notice |
| Employee notice to quit | 2 weeks in writing after 13 weeks |
| Reinstatement | Since 2026 the Director can order reinstatement and lost wages for a leave-related dismissal |
Is paid sick leave required in Saskatchewan?
No paid days, but twelve protected ones. Paid sick leave is not provided for in The Saskatchewan Employment Act. Instead, an employee with more than 13 consecutive weeks of service may not be subjected to discriminatory action, including dismissal, for absences of up to 12 days per calendar year for an illness or injury that is not serious, up to 27 weeks in 52 for a serious illness or injury (raised from 12 weeks on January 1, 2026), while receiving workers' compensation, or to care for an immediate family member who depends on them. A medical note may be requested only in writing, and only when the absence continues for more than five consecutive working days or the employee has had non-consecutive absences of two or more working days in the preceding twelve months. Where a disability interferes with performance the employer must look at modified duties or reassignment.
How sick leave works in Saskatchewan
| Non-serious illness or injury | Up to 12 days per calendar year, job-protected, after more than 13 consecutive weeks' service |
|---|---|
| Serious illness or injury | Up to 27 weeks in 52, job-protected (since January 1, 2026; previously 12 weeks) |
| Family member's illness | Absences to care for an immediate family member who depends on the employee are protected; a doctor's certificate may be requested |
| Doctor's notes | Requested in writing, and only after more than 5 consecutive working days or a second absence of 2 or more working days within 12 months (since January 1, 2026) |
| Carry-over and partial days | The Act is silent; set the rule in your policy |
| Pay | Unpaid, unless your contract, policy or collective agreement says otherwise |
The rules that apply across Canada
The duty to accommodate
Every province's human rights code, and the Canadian Human Rights Act for federally regulated employers, requires accommodating a disability to the point of undue hardship, and "disability" includes mental illness and addiction. Absences tied to a disability cannot simply collect points: tribunals expect the employer to ask what is going on, consider modified duties or a leave, and document the effort. Long or repeated absences an employee cannot control are "innocent" (non-culpable) absenteeism, which is not misconduct and cannot be disciplined; employment can end for it only when the record shows the employee is unlikely to attend regularly in the foreseeable future and accommodation has been exhausted.
Employment Insurance
Service Canada, not the employer, decides whether a former employee gets regular EI benefits. Someone who quit without just cause or was dismissed for misconduct is disqualified, so the reason code on the Record of Employment and the call-off record behind it matter: a no-call no-show treated as abandonment is usually coded as a quit, and a dismissal for breaking a known attendance rule is argued as misconduct. Either way the employer's evidence is the written policy and the time-stamped record of what the employee did and did not report.
Unionized workplaces
Where a collective agreement applies, attendance discipline follows its just-cause and progressive-discipline clauses and any grievance goes to arbitration. Arbitrators expect the same things the statutes do: a written rule the employee knew about, consistent enforcement, and a contemporaneous record of each absence.
Banks, airlines, rail, interprovincial trucking, telecoms and a few other industries are federally regulated and follow the Canada Labour Code instead of Saskatchewan's statute.
Call-offs, no-call no-shows, and dismissal in Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan's twelve protected days are the first filter for every call-off: an absence inside them, or inside the 27-week serious-illness protection, cannot be the reason for any discriminatory action, and since 2026 the Director can order reinstatement and lost wages if it is, with the employer having to show the termination was unrelated to the leave. You also cannot ask for a note unless the absence has run past five consecutive working days, and then only in writing. Outside those protections a no-call no-show is culpable conduct for progressive discipline, but the province's own guidance says a single incident is usually not serious enough for just cause: a dismissal that owes no notice needs a known rule, warnings and a documented pattern. Keep that record contemporaneous with a call-off hotline or text-based call-off line, and remember the 14-day final-pay clock runs from the last day of work whichever way the separation is characterized.
After a no call, no show termination in Saskatchewan
| Does the statute define job abandonment? | No. The statute does not define job abandonment or a consecutive-days threshold. At common law abandonment is a resignation, and the test is objective: would a reasonable person, looking at what the employee said and did, conclude they clearly and unequivocally intended to give up the job? An employer that assumed a quit after silence, without first telling the employee that silence would be treated as a resignation, has lost on that point (Hettrick v. Triple F Paving, 2021 ONSC 208). (common law; Betts v. IBM Canada, 2015 ONSC 5298) |
|---|---|
| Final pay if you treat it as a dismissal | All wages, including pay in lieu of notice and vacation pay, are due within 14 days of the last day of work. (The Saskatchewan Employment Act, Part II) |
| Final pay if you treat it as a resignation | Same 14-day deadline. After 13 weeks the employee owed you two weeks' written notice, but the Act gives no right to deduct for notice not given. (Part II) |
| Vacation pay at separation | Always owed: 3/52 of wages (4/52 after 10 years), calculated on earnings to the last day; none accrues on pay in lieu of notice. (Part II; s. 2-61) |
| Employment Insurance | Service Canada decides. A claimant who voluntarily left without just cause, or who lost the job because of their own misconduct, is disqualified from regular benefits; a no-call no-show treated as abandonment is usually coded as a quit (Record of Employment code E) and a dismissal for breaking a known attendance rule as a dismissal (code M). Either way Service Canada may ask for the written policy and the call-off record. (Employment Insurance Act, ss. 29–30) |
Before treating silence as a resignation, try to reach the employee more than once, in writing, and keep the attempts: an employer who assumes abandonment after one missed shift usually ends up having dismissed someone, with the notice and severance that follow.
Write an attendance policy that fits Saskatchewan
A written call-off rule, a single channel employees use to report an absence, and a carve-out for the statutory leaves above are what make attendance discipline hold up in Saskatchewan. Our attendance policy guide walks through each section, and what a call-off hotline is explains the record it produces.
Minimum notice of termination in Saskatchewan
| Length of service | Minimum notice (or pay in lieu) |
|---|---|
| 13 weeks or less | None |
| Over 13 weeks to 1 year | 1 week |
| Over 1 to 3 years | 2 weeks |
| Over 3 to 5 years | 4 weeks |
| Over 5 to 10 years | 6 weeks |
| Over 10 years | 8 weeks |
The Saskatchewan Employment Act, Part II (individual notice), with pay in lieu. No notice is owed where the employee refuses to work a notice period or voluntarily resigns, at the end of a definite term, or for just cause, which the province describes as serious misconduct such as theft, violence, insubordination or wilful misconduct; personality conflicts, general performance dissatisfaction, petty issues or a single incident are usually not serious enough. A layoff longer than six consecutive working days triggers notice or pay in lieu. Group terminations of 25 or more within four weeks (since January 1, 2026) need additional notice (s. 2-62). The common law usually requires more notice than the statute; the Act is the floor.
Final pay and vacation pay
| Scenario | Rule | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Employee is dismissed | All wages, including pay in lieu of notice and vacation pay, within 14 days of the last day of work; no vacation pay accrues on pay in lieu of notice (since January 1, 2026) | The Saskatchewan Employment Act, Part II; s. 2-61 |
| Employee quits or abandons the job | Same 14-day deadline. After 13 weeks the employee owed 2 weeks' written notice stating the last day; the Act gives no right to deduct for notice not given | Part II |
| Vacation pay | 3/52 of wages (3 weeks' vacation), 4/52 after 10 years, calculated on earnings to the last day | Part II (annual vacation) |
| Unused protected sick days | Not paid out: the days are unpaid, job-protected absences, not a bank | Part II |
A contract, policy or collective agreement that gives more than the Act applies in its place.
Leave employers must provide in Saskatchewan
| Leave type | Required? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Sick leave | Yes — unpaid | 12 days a year, 27 weeks if serious, after 13 weeks |
| Bereavement | Yes — unpaid | 5 days within 6 months of the death or pregnancy loss, including someone like a close relative (s. 2-55) |
| Interpersonal violence | Yes — partly paid | 10 days per 52 weeks (5 paid, 5 unpaid) plus a 16-week continuous unpaid leave (s. 2-56.1, since January 1, 2026) |
| Compassionate care | Yes — unpaid | 28 weeks in 52 |
| Critically ill child or adult | Yes — unpaid | 37 weeks (child) or 17 weeks (adult) |
| Organ donation | Yes — unpaid | 26 weeks |
| Reservist | Yes — unpaid | As required, 4 weeks' notice |
| Citizenship ceremony | Yes — unpaid | 1 day |
| Jury duty | Yes — unpaid | The Jury Act, 1998 protection |
| Vacation | Yes | 3 weeks (4 after 10 years), pay 3/52 or 4/52 |
Nomination, candidate and public office leave, the crime-related child death or disappearance leave, and maternity leave for a pregnancy loss up to 20 weeks before the due date (s. 2-49) also exist. Voting time comes from The Election Act rather than the Employment Standards provisions.
The Saskatchewan employer's attendance playbook
- Put it in writing. A written policy — the call-off deadline and channel, the steps of progressive discipline, the no-call no-show rule, and a carve-out for the statutory leaves and accommodated absences above — is what makes discipline defensible. Our attendance policy guide walks through it.
- Give call-offs one channel. "Tell whoever answers" is how records get lost. One number every employee texts or calls makes the record automatic.
- Log everything with timestamps. Employment-standards complaints, human rights applications and arbitrations are won on contemporaneous records, not recollections.
- Discipline progressively and consistently. Canadian adjudicators expect warnings before dismissal for attendance, and uneven enforcement turns a lawful dismissal into a reprisal or discrimination claim.
- Screen call-offs for protected reasons before applying any step — a statutory sick or family day, or an absence tied to a disability, gets a different track than an overslept alarm.
Comparing jurisdictions? See every published guide on the Canadian sick leave laws hub, or the US state guides.