Vacation pay and stat holidays in BC, explained

Vacation and statutory holiday pay are where B.C. payroll most often goes wrong, usually by a little, on every cheque. These are the Employment Standards Act minimums; your contracts can be more generous but not less.

Vacation time

Vacation must be taken within 12 months of being earned. You can schedule it around business needs, as long as employees get to take it within that window. Employees can ask to take vacation before they've earned it, and you can deduct those days from their later entitlement.

Vacation pay

• 014% of total wages once an employee has worked more than five calendar days.
• 026% of total wages after five consecutive years of employment.
• 03When to pay it: at least seven days before the employee's vacation starts, or on every paycheque if you and the employee agree in writing.
• 04When employment ends: all vacation pay still owed goes on the final cheque.

The 11 statutory holidays

New Year's Day, Family Day, Good Friday, Victoria Day, Canada Day, B.C. Day, Labour Day, National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Thanksgiving Day, Remembrance Day, and Christmas Day.

Easter Monday and Boxing Day aren't statutory holidays in B.C., though many employers give them. You and an employee can agree in writing to substitute another day for a statutory holiday; the substitute day is then treated as the holiday.

Who gets stat pay

An employee qualifies for statutory holiday pay if they have:

• 01been employed for 30 calendar days before the holiday, and
• 02worked or earned wages on 15 of the 30 days before it. Paid vacation days and statutory holidays count as days with earned wages.

Employees who don't qualify and work on the holiday get their regular pay for that day.

Calculating stat pay

The day off: an average day's pay

Statutory holiday pay is an average day's pay, worked out from the 30 calendar days before the holiday:

Include regular wages, salary, commission, statutory holiday pay, paid vacation, and paid sick days required by Employment Standards. Leave out overtime.

Working on the holiday

A qualifying employee who works on a statutory holiday gets time-and-a-half for the hours worked, double time for any hours over 12, and an average day's pay on top.