Ministry of Labour
Thanksgiving Day a public holiday under Employment Standards Act, 2000
TORONTO, Sept. 22 — Many workers will get the day off with public
holiday pay on Thanksgiving Day on Monday, October 11, 2004. Thanksgiving Day
is one of eight public holidays under Ontario's Employment Standards Act,
2000.
QUALIFYING FOR THANKSGIVING DAY ENTITLEMENTS
Generally, employees qualify for Thanksgiving Day entitlements unless
they fail, without reasonable cause, to work:
— Their entire regularly-scheduled shift before or after Thanksgiving
Day; or
— Their entire shift on Thanksgiving Day 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 Thanksgiving Day plus any vacation pay
payable during that period, divided by 20.
Employees who qualify for Thanksgiving Day entitlements can be full-time,
part-time, permanent or on a limited-term contract. They can also be students.
It does not matter how recently they were hired or how many days they worked
before Thanksgiving Day.
ENTITLEMENTS IF YOU ARE SCHEDULED TO WORK ON THANKSGIVING DAY
Qualified employees are entitled to take off Thanksgiving Day with public
holiday pay. They can also agree in writing to work on Thanksgiving Day and:
— Be paid their regular rate for all hours worked on Thanksgiving Day
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 Thanksgiving Day.
ENTITLEMENTS IF THANKSGIVING DAY IS A NON-WORKING DAY
If Thanksgiving Day 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
Thanksgiving Day with no substitute day off.
ENTITLEMENTS FOR NON-QUALIFIED EMPLOYEES
Generally, employees who don't qualify for public holiday entitlements
must work on Thanksgiving Day 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 Thanksgiving Day. There is no substitute day off.
If a non-qualified employee is not asked to work on Thanksgiving Day, he
or she gets the day 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
Thanksgiving Day even if they don't qualify for public holiday entitlements.
Retail employees who have agreed to work on Thanksgiving Day may still
refuse the assignment if they give their employer 48 hours advance notice
before the first hour of work on Thanksgiving Day.
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.)
— 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
Thanksgiving Day.
Hospital, continuous operations and hospitality employees
Employees in hospitals, continuous operations and the hospitality
industry may be required to work on Thanksgiving Day if it falls on a day 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 shut down or close
down 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
Thanksgiving Day.
EMPLOYEES NOT ELIGIBLE FOR PAID PUBLIC HOLIDAYS
Some employees are not eligible for Thanksgiving Day 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
— Registered real estate salespeople.
INFORMATION SOURCES
For more information, employees and employers may call the Ontario
Ministry of Labour's Employment Standards General Inquiry Line at
(416) 326-7160 or 1-800-531-5551, or they may 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 -- can be accessed via the Ontario Ministry
of Labour's:
— Website at www.gov.on.ca/lab/
— 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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Disponible en français
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:
Julie Rosenberg, Ministry of Consumer and Business Services, (416) 326-8558
