Canada Labour Code (R.S.C., 1985, c. L-2)

Marginal note:Regulations in relation to annual vacations

190 The Governor in Council may make regulations for carrying out the purposes and provisions of this Division and, without restricting the generality of the foregoing, may make regulations

• (a) defining the circumstances and conditions under which the rights of an employee under this Division may be waived or the enjoyment thereof postponed;

• (b) prescribing the notices to be given to employees of the times when vacations may be taken;

• (c) prescribing the time when vacation pay shall be paid;

• (d) defining the absences from employment that shall be deemed not to have interrupted continuity of employment;

• (e) respecting the determination by the employer of a year of employment in relation to any industrial establishment;

• (f) for the calculation and determination of vacation and vacation pay in the case of seasonal or temporary employees or in other suitable cases;

• (g) providing for the granting of vacation or the payment of vacation pay in the event of temporary cessation of employment; and

• (h) providing for the application of this Division where, owing to illness or other unavoidable absence, an employee has been absent from his employment.

DIVISION VGeneral Holidays

Marginal note:Definitions

191 The following definitions apply in this Division.

employed in a continuous operation

employed in a continuous operation means, in respect of an employee, employment in

• (a) any industrial establishment in which, in each seven-day period, operations once begun normally continue without cessation until the completion of the regularly scheduled operations for that period;

• (b) any operations or services concerned with the running of trains, planes, ships, trucks or other vehicles, whether in scheduled or non-scheduled operations;

• (c) any telephone, radio, television, telegraph or other communication or broadcasting operations or services; or

• (d) any operation or service normally carried on without regard to Sundays or general holidays. (occupé à un travail ininterrompu)

holiday pay

holiday pay means pay calculated in accordance with section 196. (indemnité de congé)

holiday with pay

holiday with pay means a holiday for which an employee is entitled to holiday pay. (congé payé)

Marginal note:Entitlement to holidays

192 Except as otherwise provided by this Division, every employee is entitled to and shall be granted a holiday with pay on each of the general holidays falling within any period of his employment.

Marginal note:General holiday falling on day off

• 193 (1) Except as otherwise provided by this Division and subject to subsection (2), when a general holiday falls on a day that is a non-working day for an employee, the employee is entitled to and shall be granted a holiday with pay at some other time, which may be by way of addition to his annual vacation or granted as a holiday with pay at a time convenient to both the employee and the employer.

• Marginal note:Alternative day for holiday falling on non-working Saturday or Sunday

  (2) Except as otherwise provided by this Division, when New Year’s Day, Canada Day, National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Remembrance Day, Christmas Day or Boxing Day falls on a Sunday or Saturday that is a non-working day, the employee is entitled to and shall be granted a holiday with pay on the working day immediately preceding or following the general holiday.

Marginal note:Exemption under collective agreement

194 Section 193 does not apply in respect of any employees who are employed under the terms of a collective agreement that entitles those employees to at least nine holidays with pay, exclusive of any annual vacation, in each year.

Marginal note:Substitution — employees subject to collective agreement

• 195 (1) An employer may, in respect of one or more employees subject to a collective agreement, substitute any other day for a general holiday if the substitution is agreed to in writing by the employer and the trade union, and the substituted day shall, for that employee or those employees, be deemed to be a general holiday for the purposes of this Part.

• Marginal note:Substitution — employees not subject to collective agreement

  (2) Subject to subsection (3), an employer may, in respect of one or more employees not subject to a collective agreement, substitute any other day for a general holiday and the substituted day shall, for that employee or those employees, be deemed to be a general holiday for the purposes of this Part, if the substitution has been approved

  • (a) in the case of a substitution that affects one employee, by that employee in writing; or

  • (b) in the case of a substitution that affects more than one employee, by at least 70% of the affected employees.

• Marginal note:Posting of notice

  (3) If any other day is to be substituted for a general holiday under subsection (2), the employer shall post a notice of the substitution in readily accessible places where it is likely to be seen by the affected employees, for at least 30 days before the substitution takes effect.

• Marginal note:Exception

  (4) Subsection (3) does not apply to a substitution in respect of one employee following a request made under subsection 177.1(1).

Marginal note:Voting, duration

195.1 Sections 172.1 and 172.2 apply, with such modifications as the circumstances require, in respect of the substitution of a general holiday pursuant to this Division.

Marginal note:Holiday pay

• 196 (1) Subject to subsections (2) and (4), an employer shall, for each general holiday, pay an employee holiday pay equal to at least one twentieth of the wages, excluding overtime pay, that the employee earned with the employer in the four-week period immediately preceding the week in which the general holiday occurs.

• Marginal note:Employees on commission

  (2) An employee whose wages are paid in whole or in part on a commission basis and who has completed at least 12 weeks of continuous employment with an employer shall, for each general holiday, be paid holiday pay equal to at least one sixtieth of the wages, excluding overtime pay, that they earned in the 12-week period immediately preceding the week in which the general holiday occurs.

• (3) [Repealed, 2018, c. 27, s. 458]

• Marginal note:Continuous operation employee not reporting for work

  (4) An employee who is employed in a continuous operation is not entitled to holiday pay for a general holiday

  • (a) on which they do not report for work after having been called to work on that day; or

  • (b) for which they make themselves unavailable to work when the conditions of employment in the industrial establishment in which they are employed

    • (i) require them to be available, or

    • (ii) allow them to make themselves unavailable.

• (5) [Repealed, 2018, c. 27, s. 458]

Marginal note:Additional pay for holiday work

• 197 (1) An employee who is required to work on a day on which they are entitled to holiday pay shall be paid, in addition to the holiday pay for that day, wages at a rate equal to at least one and one-half times their regular rate of wages for the time that they work on that day.

• Marginal note:Employment in continuous operation

  (2) An employee employed in a continuous operation who is required to work on a day on which they are entitled to holiday pay shall

  • (a) be paid in accordance with subsection (1);

  • (b) be given a holiday with pay at some other time, either by adding it to their annual vacation or by granting it at a time convenient to both the employee and the employer; or

  • (c) be paid holiday pay for the first day on which they do not work after that day, if a collective agreement that is binding on the employer and the employee so provides.

• (3) [Repealed, 2018, c. 27, s. 459]

198 [Repealed, 2012, c. 31, s. 221]

Marginal note:Holiday work for managers, etc.

199 Despite section 197, an employee excluded from the application of Division I under subsection 167(2) who is required to work on a day on which they are entitled to holiday pay shall be given a holiday with pay at some other time, either by adding it to their annual vacation or by granting it at a time convenient to both the employee and the employer.

Marginal note:Holiday pay deemed to be wages

200 Holiday pay granted to an employee is for all purposes deemed to be wages.

Marginal note:Application of section 189

201 Section 189 applies for the purposes of this Division.

201.1 [Repealed, 2012, c. 31, s. 222]

202 [Repealed, 2012, c. 31, s. 222]

DIVISION VIMulti-employer Employment

Definition of multi-employer employment

• 203 (1) In this Division, multi-employer employment, as more particularly defined by the regulations, means employment in any occupation or trade in which, by custom of that occupation or trade, any or all employees would in the usual course of a working month be ordinarily employed by more than one employer.

• Marginal note:Regulations

  (2) The Governor in Council may make regulations

  • (a) defining more particularly the expression “multi-employer employment”; and

  • (b) modifying, to the extent that the Governor in Council considers necessary, the provisions of Division I.1, IV, V, VII, VIII, X, XI, XIII or XIV so that, as far as practicable, employees engaged in multi-employer employment will be entitled to the same rights and benefits under that Division as employees employed by one employer.

• Marginal note:Idem, application

  (3) Any regulation made pursuant to subsection (2) may be made applicable to all federal works, undertakings or businesses or particularly to one or more such works, undertakings or businesses or such classes thereof or classes of employees thereof as may be specified in the regulations.

DIVISION VIIMaternity-related Reassignment and Leave and Other Leaves

Maternity-related Reassignment and Leave

Marginal note:Reassignment and job modification

• 204 (1) An employee who is pregnant or nursing may, during the period from the beginning of the pregnancy to the end of the twenty-fourth week following the birth, request the employer to modify her job functions or reassign her to another job if, by reason of the pregnancy or nursing, continuing any of her current job functions may pose a risk to her health or to that of the foetus or child.

• Marginal note:Certificate

  (2) An employee’s request under subsection (1) must be accompanied by a certificate from a health care practitioner of the employee’s choice indicating the expected duration of the potential risk and the activities or conditions to avoid in order to eliminate the risk.

Marginal note:Employer’s obligations

• 205 (1) An employer to whom a request has been made under subsection 204(1) shall examine the request in consultation with the employee and, where reasonably practicable, shall modify the employee’s job functions or reassign her.

• Marginal note:Rights of employee

  (2) An employee who has made a request under subsection 204(1) is entitled to continue in her current job while the employer examines her request, but, if the risk posed by continuing any of her job functions so requires, she is entitled to and shall be granted a leave of absence with pay at her regular rate of wages until the employer

  • (a) modifies her job functions or reassigns her, or

  • (b) informs her in writing that it is not reasonably practicable to modify her job functions or reassign her,

  and that pay shall for all purposes be deemed to be wages.

• Marginal note:Onus of proof

  (3) The onus is on the employer to show that a modification of job functions or a reassignment that would avoid the activities or conditions indicated in the certificate issued under subsection 204(2) is not reasonably practicable.

• Marginal note:Employee to be informed

  (4) If the employer concludes that a modification of job functions or a reassignment that would avoid the activities or conditions indicated in the certificate is not reasonably practicable, the employer shall so inform the employee in writing.

• Marginal note:Status of employee

  (5) An employee whose job functions are modified or who is reassigned shall be deemed to continue to hold the job that she held at the time of making the request under subsection 204(1), and shall continue to receive the wages and benefits that are attached to that job.

• Marginal note:Employee’s right to leave

  (6) An employee referred to in subsection (4) is entitled to and shall be granted a leave of absence for the duration of the risk as indicated in the certificate.