Ministry of Labour
Fact Sheet - Holiday season has three public holidays under Employment Standards Act, 2000
TORONTO, Nov. 26 — Many workers will get three public holidays off
this holiday season with "public holiday pay." Three of eight public holidays
under Ontario's Employment Standards Act, 2000 fall on: Christmas Day on
December 25, Boxing Day on December 26 and New Year's Day on January 1.
QUALIFYING FOR PUBLIC HOLIDAY ENTITLEMENTS
Generally, employees qualify for public holiday entitlements unless they
fail, without reasonable cause, to work:
— their entire regularly-scheduled shift before or after the public
holiday; or
— their entire shift on the public holiday if they agreed or were
required to work that day.
Public holiday pay is an amount equal to an employee's regular wages
earned in the four work weeks prior to the public holiday plus any vacation
pay payable during that period divided by 20.
Employees who qualify for public holiday entitlements can be full-time,
part-time, permanent or on a limited-term contract. They can also be students.
It doesn't matter how recently they were hired or how many days they worked
before the public holiday.
ENTITLEMENTS IF ANY OF THE PUBLIC HOLIDAYS ARE WORKING DAYS
For any public holiday that falls on a working day, qualified employees
are entitled to take off the public holiday with public holiday pay. They can
also agree in writing to work on the public holiday and:
— be paid their regular rate for all hours worked on the public holiday
plus receive a substitute holiday with public holiday pay; or
— if the employee and employer agree in writing, be paid public holiday
pay plus "premium pay" of one-and-a-half times their regular rate for
all hours worked on the public holiday.
ENTITLEMENTS IF ANY OF THE PUBLIC HOLIDAYS ARE NON-WORKING DAYS
For any public holiday that falls on a non-working or vacation day,
qualified employees can either take a substitute work day off with public
holiday pay or, if they agree in writing, they can receive public holiday pay
for the public holiday with no substitute day off.
ENTITLEMENTS FOR NON-QUALIFIED EMPLOYEES
Generally, employees who don't qualify for public holiday entitlements
must work on the public holidays if asked by their employer. Most non-
qualified employees are entitled to be paid one-and-a-half times their regular
rate of pay for each hour worked on the public holidays. There are no
substitute days off.
If a non-qualified employee is not asked to work on the public holidays,
he or she gets the days off with no pay.
SPECIAL RULES / EXCEPTIONS
Retail Employees
Most employees who work in "retail businesses" - businesses that sell
goods or services to the public - have the right to refuse to work on the
public holidays even if they don't qualify for public holiday entitlements.
Retail employees who have agreed to work on the public holidays may still
refuse the assignment if they give their employer 48 hours advance notice
before the first hour of work on the public holiday.
However, these rules for retail employees do not apply to those who work
for businesses that primarily:
— sell prepared meals (restaurants, cafeterias, cafés, etc.);
— rent living accommodations (hotels, tourist resorts, camps, inns,
etc.);
— provide educational, recreational or amusement services to the public
(museums, art galleries, sports stadiums, etc.); or
— sell goods and services that are incidental to the businesses
described above and are located on the same premises (museum gift
shops, souvenir shops in sports stadiums, etc.).
Under the Retail Business Holidays Act, most retail outlets must close on
Christmas Day and New Year's Day. However, stores may open if they choose on
Boxing Day. Employees still retain the right to refuse to work on Boxing Day.
Hospital, continuous operations and hospitality employees
In some cases, employees in hospitals, continuous operations and the
hospitality industry may be required to work on the public holidays if they
fall on days they would normally work and if they are not on vacation. This
applies to employees who work for hospitals, nursing homes, hotels, motels,
tourist resorts, restaurants and taverns, as well as to employees who work for
continuous operations (operations or parts of operations that do not stop or
close more than once a week such as oil refineries and alarm monitoring
companies).
Elect-to-work employees
Elect-to-work employees - those who decide without penalty whether or not
to work when requested - are not covered by the public holidays provisions of
the Employment Standards Act, 2000 except for the right to be paid
one-and-a-half times their regular rate of pay for each hour worked on the
public holidays.
EMPLOYEES NOT ELIGIBLE FOR PAID PUBLIC HOLIDAYS
Some employees are not eligible for public holiday entitlements because
public holiday provisions under the Employment Standards Act, 2000 do not
apply to certain jobs. These employees include:
— seasonal workers (employees who work for an employer no more than 16
weeks in a calendar year) in a hotel, motel, tourist resort,
restaurant or tavern who are provided with room and board;
— taxicab drivers;
— professionals such as lawyers, doctors, teachers, architects,
chiropodists, chiropractors, dentists, massage therapists,
optometrists, pharmacists, professional engineers, physiotherapists,
psychologists, public accountants, surveyors, veterinarians and those
covered under the Drugless Practitioners Act;
— students in training for any of the professions listed above;
— students who instruct or supervise children or who work at a
children's camp or recreational program operated by a charitable
organization;
— hunting and fishing guides, commercial fishers and some farm workers;
— commissioned salespeople, except route salespeople, who normally work
away from their employer's place of business;
— employees who install and maintain swimming pools;
— employees in landscape gardening, mushroom growing, or the growing,
transporting and laying of sod;
— employees who grow flowers or trees and shrubs for retail and
wholesale trade;
— employees who breed and board horses on a farm or who keep fur-bearing
mammals for propagation or the production of pelts for commercial
purposes;
— construction workers who receive 7.3 per cent or more of their wages
for vacation pay or holiday pay;
— residential building superintendents, janitors or caretakers who live
in the building;
— firefighters; and
— registered real estate salespeople.
INFORMATION SOURCES
For more information, employees and employers should call the Ontario
Ministry of Labour's Employment Standards General Inquiry Line at
(416) 326-7160 or 1-800-531-5551, or they should check the blue pages of their
local phone book for the nearest Ministry of Labour office.
Written information - including employment standards fact sheets on
subjects such as public holidays and Your Guide to the Employment Standards
Act - can be accessed via the Ontario Ministry of Labour's:
— website at www.gov.on.ca/lab/
— fax-on-demand system by calling (416) 326-6546 or
— Publications Office by calling 1-800-809-4731 toll free or
(416) 326-7731 in the Toronto area.
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PUBLIC INQUIRIES (Employees and Employers):
Pay rates and time off: Store openings:
Ministry of Labour Ministry of Consumer and Business Services
(416) 326-7160 or (416) 326-8800 or
1-800-531-5551 1-800-889-9768
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For more information visit www.gov.on.ca/lab
Contact Info
For further information: MEDIA INQUIRIES: Pay rates and time off:
Belinda Sutton, Ministry of Labour, (416) 326-7405; Store openings:
Carol-Lynn Lepard, Ministry of Consumer and Business Services, (416) 326-8537
