Vacation Accrual on Hours Worked
Vacation is a legal right of employees. In Canada we have 2 types of vacation rules: Vacation pay and Vacation time. Here’s how to effectively manage and navigate vacation requests while ensuring compliance with employee vacation rights.
The following set of rules are the minimum legal requirements in each province:
Less than 5 years: Employees are entitled to at least 2 weeks (10 working days) of vacation time. (which represents 4% of the wages).
5 years or more: Employees are entitled to at least 3 weeks (15 working days) of vacation time. (which represents 6% of the wages).
This set of rules applies to:
- Alberta
- British Columbia
- Manitoba
- Ontario
The amount of vacation time an employee is entitled to is determined by their province’s employment standards. A company may exceed the minimum amount if they wish.
Vacation Pay: Owed to the employee for every hour worked.
- Less than 5 years: Employees are entitled to at least 4% of the gross wages.
- 5 years or more: Employees are entitled to at least 6% of the gross wages.
This set of rules applies to:
- Alberta
- British Columbia
- Manitoba
- Ontario
- Northwest Territories
- Nunavut
Employers have the right to approve when employees take vacation time. It is a good idea to have employees give you their annual vacation requests each January, so then you can plan around when employees will be away during the year.
VACATION GUIDE ACCORDING TO EACH PROVINCE: First-Reference-Vacation-Time-Pay-Rules-Guide.pdf- Google Drive
VACATION ACCRUAL ON COMMISSIONS AND BONUSES – EMPLOYERS MAY HAVE TO PAY VACATIONON COMMISSIONS AND BONUSES
See the charts below to determine if vacation pay is owed on commissions/bonuses:
Commission that is paid based on an employee’s performance may earn vacation pay, depending on the location worked.
Bonuses that are not related to hours worked or production are considered discretionary and do not go under “wages” and vacation pay is not owed. If a bonus is directly related to hours worked or performance, then vacation pay is owed.
Vacation Accrual on Hours Worked
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