Issuing an ROE for a self-funded leave; Calculating statutory holiday pay when wages vary
Question: One of our employees is about to take a self-funded leave of absence. Do I have to issue a Record of Employment (ROE) for her?
ANSWER: When it comes to this situation, no ROE is needed because there is no interruption of earnings. For self-funded leaves, employees work and defer part of their pay for a specified period of time in order to pay for the leave to be taken at a later date (for example, an employee is paid 75 per cent of her salary for three years and she takes a self-funded leave in the fourth year).
Employers will have to issue an ROE if either they or the employee breaks the agreement that allowed for the leave and the employee will not be returning to work at the end of the leave. In that case, in block 11 ("Last day for which paid") on the ROE, the employer must report the date of the employee’s last day of work before she went on the leave.
Calculating statutory holiday pay when wages vary
Question: How do we calculate statutory holiday pay for employees whose wages vary from day to day?
ANSWER: The answer depends on where the employee works since statutory holidays are governed by provincial/territorial employment/labour standards laws and the Canada Labour Code for federally regulated workers, as the following list shows:
Canada Labour Code: Pay employees 1/20th of the wages they earned in the four weeks right before the week in which the holiday falls, excluding overtime pay. If employees are paid entirely or partially by commission and they have worked for their employer for at least 12 continuous weeks, pay them at least 1/60th of the wages they earned, excluding overtime pay, in the 12 weeks right before the week of the holiday.
Alberta: Pay employees their average daily wage for the day. Average it over the days the employee worked for the employer in the nine weeks immediately before the statutory holiday. If an employee has not been employed by the same employer for at least nine work weeks, average the employee’s daily wage over the number of days the employee has worked for the employer.
British Columbia: Pay employees their average day’s pay for the holiday. To calculate the average, divide the employee’s total wages in the 30 calendar days before the statutory holiday by the number of days the employee worked. Total wages include wages, commissions, statutory holiday pay and vacation pay, but not overtime pay.
Manitoba: Pay employees holiday pay that is at least equal to five per cent of their total wages, excluding overtime, in the four work weeks immediately before the holiday.
New Brunswick: Pay employees their average day’s pay, excluding overtime, for the 30 calendar days immediately before the holiday.
Newfoundland and Labrador: Multiply the employee’s hourly rate by the average number of daily hours he worked in the three weeks immediately before the holiday.
Northwest Territories: If wages are calculated on another basis, pay employees their average daily wage over the four weeks they worked immediately before the week in which the holiday falls.
Nova Scotia: Pay employees their regular daily wages. If the employee’s wages vary, Labour Standards suggests an employer could average the employee’s hours or wages over 30 days to calculate statutory holiday pay.
Nunavut: If wages are calculated on another basis, pay employees their average daily wage for the four weeks immediately before the holiday.
Ontario: Pay employees the total amount of regular wages they earned in the four workweeks ending just before the workweek in which the statutory holiday occurred and vacation pay payable to the employee in the four work weeks ending just before the workweek in which the statutory holiday occurred, divided by 20. The four-week period is based on the employer’s workweek, not necessarily a calendar week.
Prince Edward Island: Pay employees at least the equivalent of what they would have earned for a normal working day. Employment Standards advises that for employees whose wages vary, employers may average hours or wages over the 30 days before the holiday to calculate holiday pay.
Quebec: Pay employees at least 1/20th of the wages they earned during the four complete weeks of pay before the week of the holiday. Wages include vacation pay for vacations taken during the four-week period and tips the employee declares, where applicable. Do not include overtime pay. Pay employees remunerated in whole or in part by commission 1/60th of the wages earned during the 12 complete weeks of pay before the week of the holiday.
Saskatchewan: Pay employees at least five per cent of the wages they earned in the four weeks before the holiday, excluding overtime. Wages include vacation pay and statutory holiday pay paid to the employee in those four weeks.
Yukon: Pay employees at least 10 per cent of their wages for the hours worked in the two weeks immediately before the week in which the holiday occurs, if the employees work irregular hours or work less than the standard work hours. When calculating wages include overtime pay, but exclude vacation pay.
