4 Manitoba Employment Law Changes Taking Effect This Fall

If you run a business in Manitoba, your fall to-do list just got longer. Four changes to provincial employment law are taking effect between now and October 1, and most small businesses and nonprofits haven't updated their policies yet.

Here's what's changing, when, and what you need to do about it.

1. Attachment Leave for Adoption and Surrogacy (in effect since June 1, 2026)

Manitoba now provides up to 16 weeks of unpaid leave for employees who are attaching to a child through adoption or surrogacy. This works similarly to parental leave, but specifically covers placements rather than births.

Who qualifies: Employees who've worked for the same employer for at least seven consecutive months.

What employers need to know:

• Employees generally need to give four weeks' notice before starting the leave, though the law allows for shorter notice when circumstances require it

• Leave can begin up to six weeks before the expected placement date

• If an employee doesn't give proper notice, they're still entitled to the leave starting the day they stop working

What to do: Update your leave policy to include attachment leave as its own category, separate from standard parental leave.

2. New Restrictions on Sick Notes (effective October 1, 2026)

This is the big one for most employers. Starting October 1, you generally can't ask for a doctor's note for a short-term absence.

When you still can ask:

• The absence lasts more than 7 consecutive days

• The employee has already missed more than 10 scheduled workdays due to illness in the calendar year

What else changes:

• You'll need to accept notes from a wider range of health professionals, not just physicians

• If you request a note and it's valid, you must reimburse the employee for the cost. They have 30 days to submit a receipt, and you have 30 days to pay it back

What to do: Update your attendance and sick leave policy now, before October 1. If your current policy asks for a note after 2 or 3 days of absence, it will be out of compliance the moment this takes effect.

3. Mandatory Menstrual Products in the Workplace (in effect since early August 2026)

Manitoba is the first province in Canada to require employers to provide free menstrual products on-site. This falls under the Workplace Safety and Health Act, and compliance is checked through the same inspection process as other workplace safety requirements.

What to do: If you haven't already, set up a dispenser and product supply in your workplace washrooms. Estimated costs are modest (roughly $10 to $25 per employee annually).

4. Minimum Wage Increase (effective October 1, 2026)

Manitoba's minimum wage rises from $16.00 to $16.40 per hour, a 40-cent increase tied to the province's 2025 inflation rate.

What to do: Update payroll systems ahead of October 1, and don't forget to check whether any wage-based policies (overtime calculations, differentials, etc.) need adjusting.

The Bigger Picture

While each change is minor individually, two occur on the same date. If your policies haven't been updated recently, this is an ideal opportunity to review them thoroughly instead of making patchwork adjustments one by one.

If you're not sure where your current policies stand against these changes, that's exactly the kind of gap an HR audit is built to catch.