Test your knowledge by answering these true and false statements
Properly compensating employees for statutory holidays can be tricky, even for seasoned payroll professionals. Knowing whether and how much to pay an employee when a holiday rolls around depends on a number of factors.
Does the employee meet statutory eligibility requirements for pay on the holiday? Does the holiday fall on a day that would normally be a workday? Is the employee working on the holiday? Does the employee work in a continuous operation? Is the employee covered by a collective agreement? Which earnings are included when calculating statutory holiday pay?
These are just some of the questions that payroll professionals must ask and correctly answer to comply with labour standards rules for paying employees for holidays.
To help you find out how well you know statutory holiday pay rules, test yourself with the following true or false statements.
Note: Statutory holiday rules are complicated and can vary significantly from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Space restrictions limit the answers below to general requirements, with some exceptions or special rules noted. However, not all aspects are covered. Please also note that different rules may apply in workplaces that have collective agreements.
Only full-time employees are entitled to be paid for statutory holidays. True or False?
False. Part-time workers, casual employees, students and others types of workers are also entitled to paid holidays, as long as they are covered under the statutory holiday provisions of the labour standards law and meet any eligibility conditions that may apply.
Victoria Day is a statutory holiday in all Canadian jurisdictions. True or False?
False. Victoria Day is not included in labour standards legislation in the four Atlantic provinces. In Quebec, the holiday is held the Monday before May 25.
Employees who do not work the day before and after a holiday are disqualified from being paid for the holiday in all jurisdictions. True or False?
False. Not all jurisdictions require employees to work the day before and/or after the holiday to qualify for holiday pay. In the ones that do, the requirement is that employees work on their regularly scheduled working day/shift right before and after the holiday. The working day/shift may not be the calendar day right before or after the holiday.
The amount of statutory holiday pay owing to an employee entitled to the holiday who takes the day off work (normal working day) is equal to the employee’s regular daily wages/salary. True or False?
True and false, depending on the jurisdiction in which the employee works.
In Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, N.W.T., Nova Scotia, Nunavut, P.E.I. and Yukon, statutory holiday pay is the employee’s regular wages for a normal workday.
In Alberta and British Columbia, it is the employee’s average daily wage. For Alberta, use an average calculated over the nine work weeks (or number of days the employee has worked if less than nine work weeks) immediately before the holiday.
In B.C., divide the employee’s total wages in the 30 calendar days before the holiday by the number of days worked to determine the average. Total wages include wages, commissions, statutory holiday pay, and vacation pay, but do not include overtime pay. Vacation taken in the 30-day period counts as days worked.
In Quebec and under the Canada Labour Code, statutory holiday pay is equal to 1/20 of the wages (excluding overtime pay) the employee earned in the four weeks before the holiday.
For commission-based employees, use 1/60 of the wages earned in the 12 weeks prior to the holiday.
In Saskatchewan, statutory holiday pay is five per cent of the wages the employee earned in the four weeks before the holiday.
In Ontario, statutory holiday pay is the regular wages that the employee earned and vacation pay payable in the four work- weeks before the holiday, divided by 20.
If employees entitled to statutory holiday pay work on a holiday, their employer must pay them 1.5 times their regular rate for each hour they work, in addition to paying statutory holiday pay for the day. True or False?
True in most jurisdictions, although some allow employers to instead pay employees their regular wage rate for hours worked on the holiday if they provide another day off with pay.
In British Columbia, the 1.5 rate applies for the first 12 hours worked. If employees work more than 12 hours on the holiday, the rate rises to two times their regular rate.
In Quebec, the wage rate for the hours worked is the employee’s regular rate.
In Newfoundland and Labrador, instead of paying statutory holiday pay, employers pay employees double time for the hours worked.
Alternatively, they may pay the regular rate if they provide another day off. The compensation method is up to the individual employee.
Employers cannot substitute statutory holidays with other days off. True or False?
False in most jurisdictions. For the most part, labour standards laws allow employers to substitute a statutory holiday with another day off.
Some jurisdictions, such as British Columbia, Manitoba, N.W.T., Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Saskatchewan and Yukon, require that a majority of employees agree to the substitution. Under the Canada Labour Code, 70 per cent of employees affected by the change must agree to it.
Employers in N.W.T., Nova Scotia, Nunavut and Saskatchewan must also apply to the applicable labour standards board for permission to substitute the holiday.
Some jurisdictions put time restrictions on when employers must provide the substituted holiday, such as by the employee’s next vacation or within a specified number of months after the holiday.
Employers do not have to pay new employees for statutory holidays that fall in the first 30 days of employment. True or False?
True in Alberta, British Columbia, Newfoundland and Labrador, N.W.T., Nunavut, P.E.I., and Yukon, as well as under the Canada Labour Code. British Columbia and P.E.I. also require employees to earn wages on at least 15 of the 30 calendar days before the holiday to be entitled to a paid holiday.
In New Brunswick, employees must work for their employer for at least 90 days in the 12 months before the holiday.
In Nova Scotia, employees must be entitled to be paid for at least 15 of 30 calendar days right before the holiday.
Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan have no restrictions for new employees.
Even if new employees are not entitled to be paid for a statutory holiday, if they work on the holiday, the employer must pay them for the hours worked.
Thanksgiving is not a statutory holiday in all Canadian jurisdictions. True or False?
True. Labour standards laws in New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island do not list Thanksgiving as a holiday.
The day is a holiday under retail shopping laws in the provinces, meaning that many businesses are prohibited from opening. Employees do not, however, have the same rights to statutory holiday pay as they do for holidays covered under labour standards legislation.
If a statutory holiday falls on a non-working day and entitled employees do not work, employers do not have to compensate employees for the day. True or False?
False for almost all jurisdictions. Depending on the jurisdiction, employers must pay employees for the day or give them another day off with pay (often the next working day).
In Alberta, there is no requirement for employers to pay employees or grant another day off with pay. However, if July 1 falls on a Sunday, employers must observe July 2 as the holiday.
In Saskatchewan, if New Year’s Day, Christmas Day or Remembrance Day fall on a Sunday, employers must give employees a holiday with pay on the following Monday. This does not apply to businesses that normally open on Sundays.
If employers give employees who work on a holiday another paid day off, that day must be provided in the same month as the holiday. True or False?
False. In jurisdictions that allow employers to provide another day off, the deadline for taking the day off is often the employee’s next annual vacation (or on another day to which they agree).
However, in Newfoundland and Labrador, employees may choose instead to take the day off within 30 days after the holiday.
In Manitoba, only employees who work in continuous operations can take an alternate day off. They may take it within 30 days after the statutory holiday or choose another day that is no later than their next annual vacation.
In Ontario, employees must take off the day no later than three months after the holiday or, with the employee’s agreement, no later than 12 months afterwards.
In Quebec, employees must take it within three weeks before or after the holiday for all holidays but the National Holiday. For the National Holiday, employees must take the day off on the day immediately before or after June 24.
