Public holidays

 

As a start-up, you should know of the requirement to provide employees with public holidays, which are separate from vacations. Most employees in Ontario are entitled to receive time off with pay on days of national and/or provincial significance. In Ontario, we have nine public holidays:

• New Year’s Day—January 1
• Family Day—third Monday in February
• Good Friday—Friday before Easter
• Victoria Day—the Monday on or before May 24
• Canada Day—July 1
• Civic Holiday—first Monday in August
• Labour Day—first Monday in September
• Thanksgiving—second Monday in October
• Christmas—December 25
• Boxing Day—December 26

Some employers will also give employees a holiday on Easter Sunday, Easter Monday, the first Monday in August (a civic public holiday) and/or Remembrance Day. However, not all employers are required to do so.

The Employment Standards Act

The Ontario Employment Standards Act states that most employees who qualify for public holidays are entitled to take these days off work and receive public holiday pay. Alternatively, employees can agree to work on the holiday and receive:

• public holiday pay plus premium pay (i.e., pay that is at least 1.5 times the employee’s regular rate) for the hours worked on the public holiday

OR

• their regular rate of pay for hours worked on the holiday plus another day off (a“substitute” holiday) with public holiday pay—if the employee receives a substitute day off with public holiday pay, then the public holiday pay is calculated based on the hours worked during the four work weeks prior to the week in which the substitute day off falls

Bear in mind that legislation does not actually prohibit work on public holidays. In fact, some employees work in jobs and industries that are not covered by public holiday provisions.

Calculating public holiday pay

To calculate the amount of public holiday pay to which an employee is entitled:

1. Add the regular wages (excluding overtime and premium pay) earned in the four work weeks prior to the work week with the public holiday.

2. Add the vacation pay that is payable with respect to the four work weeks prior to the work week with the public holiday.

3. Divide the sum of these two amounts by 20.

  Note: The information above provides a summary only. It is not intended to be an exhaustive discussion of public holidays pursuant to applicable law and should not be taken as legal advice. Readers should review the full text of the Employment Standards Act and seek legal advice for more detail. If you are outside of Ontario, consult applicable employment standards legislation and seek legal advice with respect to your jurisdiction.

All dates and statistics sourced fromthe Ontario Employees Standards Actas of November, 2009.

 

 

References

Your Guide to the Employment Standards Act, 2000. (n.d.). Retrieved March 3, 2009 from Ministry of Labour website, http://www.labour.gov.on.ca/english/es/guide.

Tags: employees