The holiday season is approaching, and if you’re thinking of taking time off, it is critical to understand your rights as an employee in regards to holiday pay and how it is calculated and paid out to employees.

How much vacation pay am I entitled to?

Your employer is required to calculate and deduct your vacation earnings on each paycheque in the amount of 4% or 6%.

If you have been working for less than five years or have worked in the last 12 months, you are entitled to 2 weeks of vacation pay at 4%. If you have worked for more than five years, you are entitled to 3 weeks of vacation pay at 6%.

Employers can either add vacation pay to each paycheque or accrue it and pay it out when their employee takes a vacation.

Will I receive pay this statutory holiday?

You will be paid for this upcoming statutory holiday if you:

• Worked for 30 days as a full-time employee in the last month
• Worked for 15 days as a part-time employee in the last month

The amount paid depends on whether you worked on the actual statutory holiday or not.

Employees receive one of the following pay scales on statutory holidays:

• regular time if they did not work at all
• time and a half if they worked between 8-12 hours
• double time- for any hours worked beyond 12 hours of work

As the employer, am I required to pay holiday pay?

All employers must pay holiday pay and provide time off for employees based on their business’ operations.

Employees are entitled to vacation leave when it does not impair with a business’ profits (employees should note that an employer can deny vacation leave during a business’s peak season).  A successful business with have the pay cheques for employees according to the payroll frequence established by the business.

NEVER missing paying employees and payroll taxes by due dates including 3rf party health insurances, union dues, pensions and vacation pay.

All T4’s information slips are given to employees by February 28 of the following year.

Don’t know how payroll works?

If you are hiring workers for your projects, you need to track all the expenses, including operating expenses and Gross Payroll -this includes payroll taxes. You should also be aware of whether you qualify for any of the following credits:

Still confused? We can help you understand your payroll resources, calculate your pay, or answer your questions about payroll. For more information contact Ina.