Quick Tips ISSUE #12

Employer/Employee Rights

Every province has its own labour laws and while they have many similarities, they also are unique in many ways. As an employer, you have certain rights and obligations and so do your employees. If you don’t know these, you will at some point in time almost certainly run into problems.

How many statutory days off are your employees entitled to? This is a variable by
province and but there are typically 10 paid statutory days. What happens if an employee does not work the day before or the day after a statutory holiday? This is variable by province but in many instances, the employee is not entitled to be paid for the statutory holiday.

How much vacation time must you pay an employee? There are provincial variations, but typically an employee is entitled to 2 weeks paid vacation after being with you for a year. Some provinces increase the number of paid weeks of vacation after 5 years.

When can an employee take their holidays? As an employer, you typically have the right to dictate when an employee takes their holidays but check your provincial laws.

When does overtime start? This varies significantly by province, not only in the total
number of hours worked in a week but also concerning how many hours worked in a day.

What do you do if an employee is off sick for an extended period of time or for an indefinite period of time? This is often not covered by the provincial labour laws and is another time when a labour lawyer can help.

The list goes on and on but the majority of questions are covered in your provincial labour laws. The labour laws, often called Employment Standards, are available on-line (www.hrcouncil.ca/laws/pg002a_e.cfm#cat1). In some cases the government provides an easy to read document which is their interpretation of the laws. While these do not supersede the actual statute, they will give you a good working idea of your rights and obligations.

Employer and employees will have a much better relationship and harmony in the practice is more likely to prevail if the laws of the land are followed. But don’t forget, there will always be give and take on both sides.

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