À Propos Des Vacances En Ontario : Dix Choses Que Les Employeurs Doivent Savoir

Published date22 October 2021
Subject MatterEmployment and HR, Contract of Employment, Employee Benefits & Compensation, Employee Rights/ Labour Relations
Law FirmMcCarthy Tétrault LLP
AuthorConseiller De L'Employeur, Justine Lindner and Todd Pribanic-White

Since many employees have been on leaves of absence, had variation in their hours of work or have accumulated vacation due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have noticed that many employers have questions regarding the calculation of employees' vacation pay and the scheduling of their vacation time.

To assist provincially-regulated employers in Ontario, we have compiled a list of the ten statutory vacation requirements employers must meet to comply with Ontario's Employment Standards Act, 2000 (the "ESA").

  1. The obligation to provide vacation arises upon completion of each "vacation entitlement year". An employee becomes entitled to vacation after each 12-month vacation entitlement year, which usually begins on the employee's hire date. Where the employer establishes an alternative vacation entitlement year, the employee is entitled to a pro-rated period of vacation for the stub period from hire date until the start of the alternative vacation entitlement year.
  1. Vacation pay must equal at least 4% or 6% of gross wages. Employees with less than five years of employment are entitled to a minimum of 4% of the wages they earned during the vacation entitlement year as vacation pay. Employees with 5 or more years of employment at the end of a 12-month vacation entitlement year are entitled to at least 6% of the gross wages earned in the 12-month vacation entitlement year or stub period "Wages" includes the employee's regular earnings (including commissions), bonuses or gifts that are not discretionary or which are related to hours work, overtime pay public holiday pay, termination pay, allowances for room and board and domestic or sexual violence leave pay.
  1. Vacation pay must be paid as a lump sum before the vacation time. Generally, vacation pay must be paid to an employee in a lump sum before they take the vacation time earned unless one of the following exceptions applies
    • The vacation time being taken is less than one week.
    • The employee has agreed in writing that vacation pay will be paid on each pay cheque as it accumulates.
    • The employee has agreed in writing to an alternate time for payment.
    • The employee is paid wages by direct deposit.
  1. Employees are entitled to 2 weeks or 3 weeks of vacation time.Employees are entitled to a minimum of 2 weeks of vacation time per year upon completion of 12 months of consecutive employment. The employee will then be entitled to 3 weeks of vacation after completing the 5th vacation entitlement year and for each...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT