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Employment Standards Act Ontario: Statutory Holidays

Most employees covered by the Ontario Employment Standards Act (ESA) are entitled to 9 statutory holidays and stat holiday pay. Employers are obligated to provide their staff with the correct statutory holiday pay. This applies to the following statutory holidays in Ontario:

New Year’s Day: Monday, January 1, 2024
Family Day: Monday, February 19, 2024
Good Friday: Friday, March 29, 2024
Victoria Day: Monday, May 20, 2024
Canada Day: Monday, July 1, 2024
Labour Day: Monday, September 2, 2024
Thanksgiving Day: Monday, October 14, 2024
Christmas Day: Wednesday, December 25, 2024
Boxing Day: Thursday, December 26, 2024

Employers in Ontario should also be aware that while Remembrance Day (November 11, 2024) is not a statutory holiday, some employers still give employees the day off. Civic Holiday (August 5, 2024, or the first Monday in August) is an optional holiday and provincially regulated employers are not required to give it off, although many do.

Calculating Ontario Stat Holiday Pay

How is statutory holiday pay calculated in Ontario?

The correct way to calculate stat holiday pay in Ontario is by adding the employee’s regular wages earned in the four work weeks prior to the public holiday plus all of the vacation pay payable with respect to the four work weeks prior to the public holiday and divide it by 20.

How is premium pay calculated?

If your employee agrees to work on a statutory public holiday with written consent, compensation can be made as holiday pay plus premium pay for all hours worked on the public holiday. But this does not allow another day off.

Premium pay is 1½ times an employee’s regular pay. If an employee receives premium pay for working on a public holiday, they must be paid 1½ times their regular rate of pay for each hour they worked.

What is substitute holiday pay in Ontario?

When an employee agrees to work on a statutory public holiday with written consent, compensation can be made as regular wage pay for all hours worked on a public holiday. This arrangement allows another day off in lieu, with holiday pay.

But a substitute holiday must be taken within three months of the public holiday for which it was earned. If the employee consents electronically or in writing, the substitute holiday can be scheduled up to 12 months after the public holiday.

Get expert advice on managing stat holiday pay in Ontario

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