Paid statutory holidays

• The following days are statutory general holidays
• Who is entitled to these statutory holidays?
• Indemnity and compensatory holiday

The following days are statutory general holidays

The following days are statutory general holidays:

• January 1^st;
• Good Friday or Easter Monday, at the option of the employer;
• the Monday preceding May 25^th;
• July 1^st or, if this date falls on a Sunday, July 2^nd;
• the first Monday in September;
• the second Monday in October;
• December 25^th.

An employee in the clothing industry is also entitled to the following paid statutory holidays: January 2nd, Good Friday and Easter Monday.

Note: June 24^th, the National Holiday, is also a paid statutory holiday. However, under the National Holiday Act, the conditions to benefit by the indemnity or compensatory holiday are different from those giving entitlement to the aforementioned paid statutory holidays.

See National Holiday

Who is entitled to these statutory holidays?

Employees subject to the Act respecting Labour Standards are entitled to an indemnity for each statutory holiday stipulated in the Act, provided that they were not absent from work, without their employer’s authorization or without valid reason, on the working day preceding or the working day following this holiday. The working day preceding or following the statutory holiday is the working day for the employee.

The provisions respecting statutory holidays do not apply to an employee who benefits, under a collective agreement or a decree, from at least seven paid statutory holidays in addition to the National Holiday. Nor do these provisions apply to an employee of the same undertaking who benefits from a number of days of leave at least equal to that stipulated in this agreement or decree (without necessarily being subject thereto).

Indemnity and compensatory holiday

The indemnity that an employer must pay an employee for a paid statutory holiday is equal to 1/20 of the wages earned during the four complete weeks of pay preceding the week of the holiday, excluding overtime. In the case of an employee receiving tips, the amount of the reported or attributed tips must be taken into account in the calculation of the indemnity.

The indemnity of an employee remunerated in whole or in part on commission is equal to 1/60 of the wages earned during the twelve complete weeks of pay preceding the week of the holiday.

An employee who works on a statutory holiday must receive, in addition to his usual wages, a compensatory indemnity or a paid compensatory holiday of one day. This compensatory holiday must be taken in the three weeks preceding or following the statutory holiday.

If the employee is on annual leave, the employer must pay him the compensatory indemnity or grant him a paid compensatory holiday of one day on a date agreed upon between them.

Example 1: employee paid by the week*

*The calculation formulas are given for information purposes. For more details, please refer to the Act respecting Labour Standards and its regulations or get in touch with the Service des renseignements.

Calculation of the Christmas and New Year’s Day indemnity
Paul works 8 hours a day, from Monday to Friday, and he earns $10 per hour. He did not work on Christmas Day or New Year’s Day. His employer’s pay period is established from Saturday to Friday. How is the indemnity determined?

1) Determine the Christmas indemnity. It is calculated on the basis of the four complete weeks of pay preceding the holiday, namely from November 22^nd to December 19^th.

5 days worked per week X 8 hours per day = 40 hours
40 hours X $10 = $400
$400 X 4 complete weeks of pay = $1 600
$1 600 (wages earned) X 1/20 = $80

2) Calculate the wages for the week of the Christmas holiday, namely from December 20^th to 26^th.

4 days worked in the week X 8 hours = 32 hours
32 hours X $10 = $320
$320 + $80 (Christmas Day indemnity) = $400

3) Determine the New Year’s Day indemnity. It is calculated on the basis of the four complete weeks of pay preceding the holiday, namely from November 29^th to December 26^th, including the December 25^th indemnity.

5 days worked in the week X 8 hours per day = 40 hours
40 hours X $10 = $400
$400 X 3 complete weeks of pay = $1 200
$1 200 + $400 (wages of December 20^th to 26^th
including the indemnity of December 25th) = $1 600
$1 600 (wages earned) X 1/20 = $80

4) Calculate the wages for the week of December 27^th to January 2nd.

4 days worked in the week X 8 hours = 32 hours
32 hours X $10 = $320
$320 + $80 (New Year’s Day indemnity) = $400

Example 2: employee paid every two weeks*

*The calculation formulas are given for information purposes. For more details, please refer to the Act respecting Labour Standards and its regulations or get in touch with the Service des renseignements.

Calculation of the indemnity for the statutory holiday of the Monday preceding May 25^th, National Patriots’ Day

Nathalie earns $8 per hour. She always works 20 hours per week by reason of 5 hours per day, from Tuesday to Friday. The employer’s pay period runs from Saturday to Friday. Pays are issued on Friday, every two weeks. Nathalie received her pay on April 25^th and May 9^th. What will be the amount of her pay of May 23^rd, which must include the statutory holiday indemnity?

When the employee is remunerated every two weeks and the pay period overlaps the week of the statutory holiday, the pay periods must be divided by week for the calculation of the indemnity.

1) Determine the four complete weeks of pay preceding the week of the holiday

The period to be considered for the calculation of the indemnity is from Saturday, April 19^th, to Friday, May 16^th.

*The weeks to be considered for the calculation of the indemnity are preceded by an asterisk.

2) Calculate the number of hours worked during these four weeks

20 hr X 4 weeks = 80 hr

3) Calculate the wages earned during this period

For her May 23^rd pay, Nathalie will have to receive $352 which represents her regular wages for the two weeks worked ($160 X 2 = $320) to which the $32 statutory holiday indemnity has been added.

See also the section of the Act on this subject.

When you consult a section of the Act, we suggest that you also refer to its interpretation.