When you go back to work after stress leave, the people at work generally need to know what you can do now, what has to change for a while, and for how long. They don't generally need to know why you were away. Below is who needs what, the rules Ontario sets for the leave itself, a one-page draft to bring with you, and what studies have measured about the months after a return.
Who needs what from you
It can help to see this as several conversations rather than one, each with a smaller job than you might expect.
| Person | What they usually need | What can stay private |
|---|---|---|
| Your family doctor or nurse practitioner | How your days really look: sleep, concentration, how long you can work before you tire, what concerns you about going back. | Nothing needs hiding here. This is where the full picture helps. |
| Your manager | A start date, the hours and duties you can manage now, what has to wait, and when you'll both look at it again. | Your diagnosis, test results and treatment. |
| HR or a disability management office | Forms, a note about abilities and restrictions, and any written accommodation plan. | The same, and you can ask who will see each document. |
| An insurer, if you receive disability benefits | Whatever its forms list, which may be more medical detail than your employer gets. | Ask what goes to your employer before you sign a consent. |
| Colleagues | Who is handling which task while your hours are shorter. | All of the rest. Telling them more is your choice. |
The federal government's guide for its own employees says this plainly, in its resource on illness and injury at work:
"Your employer is not entitled to ask you, or your physician or health professional, for your diagnosis, test results or details of your treatment."
The same passage says your supervisor does need your abilities, limitations or restrictions, and that giving them is your responsibility. That guide covers federal public servants, and most people in Ontario work under provincial rules. The Canadian Human Rights Commission's accommodation guide, written for federally regulated workplaces, uses softer wording: employers are "very rarely" entitled to a diagnosis or treatment plan. If you're asked for more than seems necessary, you can ask why it's needed. A union representative or an employment lawyer can tell you how the rules apply to your job.
What Ontario's guide says about the leave
"Stress leave" is an everyday phrase. It doesn't appear on the provincial guide's page for longer absences, which speaks of a serious medical condition. These points come from Ontario's guide to the Employment Standards Act:
- Sick leave is up to 3 unpaid, job-protected days a calendar year, once you've worked for your employer for 2 consecutive weeks.
- Long-term illness leave is up to 27 unpaid, job-protected weeks in a 52-week period, for people employed there at least 13 consecutive weeks.
- That longer leave needs a certificate from a physician, registered nurse or psychologist, and in Ontario this includes psychiatrists and nurse practitioners. It must say the condition is serious and give the period you'll be off. It doesn't have to name the condition.
- You can take a single week or part of a week at a time. A part week may count as a full week of your 27, so before you agree to shorter weeks, ask HR how they'll be recorded.
- An employer can't threaten, fire or otherwise penalize you for taking this leave.
- Organizations with 50 or more employees must have a written return-to-work process for people who were away because of a disability and need accommodation. It's fair to ask for a copy.
Banks, airlines and other federally regulated employers follow different rules. This is general information, and it can't replace advice about your particular job.
A one-page draft for the first meeting
A rough page gives the meeting something to work on besides how you're feeling. You could fill it in with your doctor first, then bring it to your manager or HR.
- The date you'd like to start, and the day of the week. A Wednesday makes for a shorter first week than a Monday.
- Your hours for each of the first few weeks.
- Duties you can take back now and duties that can wait, such as on-call shifts, large presentations or a full client list.
- What would help in practice. The federal guide's examples are modified work, modified hours, telework, equipment and support services.
- Two dates to review the plan, with a name beside each.
- Who you'll speak to if a week turns out to be too much, and what you'd ask them to change.
The schedule below is invented to show the format. It isn't a recommended pace. Yours depends on your health, your job and what you and your doctor work out.
| Week | Hours | Work | Check-in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 half days | Catching up on messages, own files only | Friday, 15 minutes |
| 2 | 4 half days | Own files, one regular meeting | None |
| 3 | 3 full days | Most usual duties, no evening messages | Friday, 30 minutes |
| 4 | 4 full days | Usual duties, on-call still paused | Decide on week 5 and after |
The first two weeks back
When someone asks where you've been
Decide your line before you arrive, because a kind question in the kitchen can catch you off guard. "I was off for health reasons, and I'm glad to be back" is complete. If someone keeps going, "I'd rather not get into it, but thanks for asking. What did I miss on the project?" moves things along.
Your own early signs
Before you start, write down two or three things that changed in the weeks before your leave. For one person it might be waking at four in the morning. For another, rereading the same email or snapping at home. The page on burnout therapy lists common ones if you need a place to begin. Look at the list on each check-in day and bring what you notice to the conversation.
Dread on the way in is common, and a racing heart or an unsettled stomach can come with it. The article on anxiety about what hasn't happened yet covers that pattern. Physical symptoms that are new or don't settle are worth checking with a family doctor.
What studies measured after people went back
- A Dutch trial published in 2014 followed 158 workers who had already returned after an absence for common mental health problems. Those whose treatment providers were trained in a problem-solving approach had lower odds of going off sick again over 12 months, and a longer time before it happened if they did. Problem solving here means naming a specific difficulty at work, listing options, trying one and reviewing it.
- A 2012 Cochrane review looked at workers off with adjustment disorders, a term for strong distress after a stressful change. Cognitive behavioural therapy didn't significantly shorten the time to a partial or full return compared with no treatment. Problem-solving therapy shortened the time to a partial return by about 17 days compared with care that didn't follow guidelines, with no significant difference for a full return. The authors point out that the studies were few and small.
- A 2020 Cochrane review of 45 studies and 12,109 people with depression or high depressive symptoms found that combining work-directed steps with clinical care probably reduced sick days, by an estimated 25 days in the first year. Beyond a year, it didn't lead to fewer people being off work.
Practical work on specific problems has some support here, and the months after a return are worth planning for. These studies measure groups, so they can't predict how one person's return will go.
When the dread is about the job itself
Sometimes what wore you down is still waiting there: the same workload, the same conflict, or treatment that wasn't acceptable in the first place. Coping skills don't change that. It belongs in the plan as its own line, and HR, a union representative or an employment lawyer may be the right person to raise it with. For some people the leave ends with a decision to look elsewhere, and the article on anxiety during a career change looks at that road. If the weeks before your return bring thoughts of not wanting to be alive, please tell someone today. In an emergency, call 9-8-8 (Suicide Crisis Helpline, 24/7), call 911 or go to the nearest emergency department.
Talking through a return with BridgeMinds
Burnout and work stress are part of what Carolina Vintu, PhD, Registered Psychotherapist, works with, drawing on approaches such as cognitive behavioural therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. Sessions are online from anywhere in Ontario, in English, Russian or Romanian. In a free 15-minute consultation, you can describe where you are with your return and ask how she works.
