Before you read this document, please read the Ministry's General Information Fact Sheet and find out if the ESA applies to you.
Employees who qualify are entitled to take public holidays off work and be paid public holiday pay. Or they can agree in writing to work on the holiday, and will be paid either:
Most employees are eligible for these public holiday entitlements.
Some employees may be required to work on a public holiday, either because:
For more details about jobs and industries that aren't covered by the public holiday part of the ESA, or to which special rules apply, consult the chart in the fact sheet How Are You Covered by the ESA .
Province of Ontario
Ontario has nine public holidays:
Some employers give their employees a holiday on Easter Sunday, Easter Monday, the first Monday in August, or Remembrance Day. However, these days are not public holidays under the ESA.
Generally, employees qualify for public holiday entitlements unless they:
Qualified employees 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.
Note: most employees who don't meet either of the qualifying criteria are entitled to be paid premium pay for every hour they work on the holiday.
Employees are generally considered to have "reasonable cause" for missing work when something beyond their control prevents them from working. Examples are illness, injury, medical emergencies, deaths or other emergencies (including emergencies related to family members).
Employees are responsible for showing that they had a reasonable cause for staying away from work. If they can do so, they still qualify for public holiday entitlements.
The "Last and First" Rule is one of the criteria that qualifies employees for public holiday entitlements. The rule is that employees must:
However, the "regularly scheduled days of work before and after the public holiday" don't have to be the days right before and right after the holiday.
For example, if an employee isn't scheduled to work the day right before or after the holiday, as long as he or she works all of the last regularly scheduled shift before the holiday and all of the first one after it--or provides reasonable cause for not working either of those days-he or she meets this criterion.
Here's how to calculate the amount of public holiday pay a qualified employee is entitled to:
If the employee has earned a substitute holiday with public holiday pay, this calculation is done for the four work weeks before the work week in which the substitute day falls.
Premium pay is 1½ times the employee's regular rate of pay. Employees who are entitled to receive premium pay for work on a public holiday must be paid 1½ times their regular rate of pay for each hour they work.
Public holiday pay is all of an employee's regular wages, plus all of the vacation pay earned in the four weeks ending just before the work week with the public holiday, divided by 20. For important details about calculating public holiday pay, please see "How much public holiday pay are qualified employees entitled to?". If the employee has earned a substitute holiday with public holiday pay, the calculation is based on the four-week period before the substitute day off.
Regular rate means an employee's rate of pay for each non-overtime hour of work in his or her work week.
Regular wages doesn't include any overtime or premium pay owed to an employee.
A substitute holiday is another working day off work designated to replace a public holiday. Employees are entitled to be paid public holiday pay for a substitute holiday. A substitute day off must be scheduled for no later than three months after the public holiday for which it was earned--or, if the employee has agreed in writing, up to 12 months after the public holiday.
Vacation pay includes any vacation pay owed to an employee who takes a vacation in the four work weeks before the public holiday (or substitute holiday). It also includes vacation pay owed to an employee who has agreed in writing to receive it either on each paycheque, or at any other time, if the payment is due during those four work weeks.
The "four work weeks ending just before the work week with the public holiday" aren't necessarily the four calendar work weeks immediately before the public holiday. This four-week period is based on the employer's work week.
When a public holiday falls on a day that isn't ordinarily a working day for an employee, or during the employee's vacation, the employee is entitled to either:
However, if employees received little or no wages or vacation pay in the four weeks before the holiday, they will receive little or no public holiday pay.
Most employees have a right to refuse to work on a public holiday, and to take the day off and get paid public holiday pay. However, if an employee agrees in writing to work on the holiday, there are two options:
If an employee has agreed in writing to work on a public holiday but does not--and doesn't show reasonable cause for not working--he or she has no right to public holiday pay or a substitute day off with pay.
However, if the employee can show reasonable cause for not working the public holiday, entitlements will depend on which of the two options below the employee chose in exchange for agreeing to work on the public holiday:
If an employee has agreed in writing to work on the public holiday but works only some of the hours agreed upon-and doesn't show reasonable cause for not working--the employee is only entitled to receive premium pay for each hour worked on the holiday. The employee has no right to public holiday pay or a substitute day off work.
However, if reasonable cause is demonstrated for only working some of the hours agreed to:
Employees who work in the following businesses may be required to work on public holidays:
However, the only time these employees can be required to work on a public holiday without their agreement is when the public holiday falls on a day they would normally work, and they are not on vacation.
If special rules apply to you, please see Publications for more information.
Sometimes an employee's job comes to an end before the employee can take a substitute holiday with public holiday pay that he or she has earned. In this case, the employer must pay the public holiday pay at the same time it pays the employee's final wages.
If an employee thinks the employer is not complying with the ESA, he or she can call the Employment Standards Information Centre at 416-326-7160 or toll free at 1-800-531-5551 for more information about the ESA and how to file a complaint. Complaints are investigated by an employment standards officer who can, if necessary, make orders against an employer—including an order to comply with the ESA. The ministry has a number of other options to enforce the ESA, including requesting voluntary compliance, issuing an order to pay wages, an order to reinstate and/or compensate, a notice of contravention, or issuing a ticket or otherwise prosecuting the employer under the Provincial Offences Act.
This document is based on the Public Holidays Fact Sheet (last updated July, 2006).
This Fact Sheet is provided for your information and convenience only. It is not a legal document. For further details, consult Publications . For complete information, refer to the Employment Standards Act, 2000 and its regulations.
DISCLAIMER
Information contained in this section is of a general nature only and is not intended to constitute advice for any specific fact situation. For particular questions, the users are invited to contact their lawyer. For additional information, see contact(s) listed below.
Ontario Contact(s):
Employment Standards Information Centre
Ministry of Labour - MOL
Ontario
Telephone: 416-326-7160
Fax: 416-314-8725
Toll-free (information): 1-800-531-5551
E-mail: webes@mol.gov.on.ca
Web site:
http://www.labour.gov.on.ca/english/index.html