Canada Labour Standards Regulations (C.R.C., c. 986)

• 14 (1) An employee may, by written agreement with the employer, postpone or waive the employee’s entitlement to an annual vacation for a specified year of employment.

• (2) Where an employee waives an annual vacation in accordance with subsection (1), the employer shall pay the vacation pay to the employee within 10 months after the end of the specified year of employment.

General Holidays

• 15 (1) A notice of substitution of a general holiday required to be posted pursuant to subsection 195(3) of the Act shall contain

  • (a) the name of the employer;

  • (b) an identification of the affected employees;

  • (c) the address or location of the workplace;

  • (d) the dates of the general holiday and the substituted holiday;

  • (e) the dates the substitution comes into effect and expires;

  • (f) the date of posting; and

  • (g) a statement that at least 70 per cent of the affected employees must agree to the substitution of the general holiday for the substitution to come into effect.

• (2) The notice referred to in subsection (1) shall remain posted for the duration of the substitution.

16 If, in accordance with subsection 195(1) of the Act, any other day is substituted for a general holiday in a written agreement between the parties to a collective agreement, the written agreement shall contain the information set out in paragraphs 15(1)(a) to (e).

Regular Rate of Wages for Purposes of General Holidays, Personal Leave, Leave for Victims of Family Violence, Bereavement Leave and Medical Leave

17 For the purposes of subsections 206.6(2), 206.7(2.1), 210(2) and 239(1.3) of the Act, the regular rate of wages of an employee whose hours of work differ from day to day or who is paid on a basis other than time shall be

• (a) the average of the employee’s daily earnings, exclusive of overtime hours, for the 20 days the employee has worked immediately preceding the first day of the period of paid leave; or

• (b) an amount calculated by a method agreed on under or pursuant to a collective agreement that is binding on the employer and the employee.

18 For the purposes of section 197 of the Act, if the hours of work of an employee whose wages are calculated on a daily or hourly basis differ from day to day, or if the employee’s wages are calculated on a basis other than time, the regular rate of wages for a general holiday shall be

• (a) the average of his daily earnings exclusive of overtime for the 20 days he has worked immediately preceding the holiday; or

• (b) an amount calculated by a method agreed upon under or pursuant to a collective agreement that is binding on the employer and the employee.

Regular Rate of Wages for Purposes of Attending Appeal Proceedings

• 18.1 (1) The following definitions apply in this section.

  Act

  Act means the Canada Labour Code. (Loi)

  week

  week means the period between midnight on Saturday and midnight on the immediately following Saturday. (semaine)

• (2) Despite section 20, for the purposes of subsection 251.12(5) of the Act, the regular rate of wages of an employee who is paid on a basis other than an hourly rate is calculated or determined in accordance with this section.

• (3) Subject to subsections (5) to (7), if the employee worked for at least one hour during the four-week period preceding a week in which the employee attends the appeal proceeding in response to a summons by the Board, the employee’s regular rate of wages for that week is calculated by dividing the wages that the employee earned in that period by the hours that they worked during the same period, excluding overtime hours.

• (4) Subject to subsections (5) to (7), if the employee did not work for at least one hour in the period referred to in subsection (3) but did work for at least one hour in the preceding four-week period, their regular rate of wages is calculated using the formula set out in subsection (3) but in respect of the preceding four-week period.

• (5) Subject to subsections (6) and (7), if the employee is paid, in whole or in part, on a commission basis and the employee has completed at least 12 weeks of continuous employment for their employer, the employee’s regular rate of wages for the week in which the employee attends the appeal proceeding in response to a summons by the Board is calculated by dividing the amount of wages that they earned in the 12-week period preceding that week by the number of hours that the employee worked during that period, excluding overtime hours.

• (6) Subject to subsection (7), if a collective agreement that is binding on the employee and employer sets out a regular rate of wages that is applicable to the employee, or a method for calculating it, that rate, or the rate calculated following that method, is the employee’s regular rate of wages.

• (7) In the following circumstances, an employee’s regular rate of wages is the minimum wage rate referred to in Part III of the Act:

  • (a) the employee’s regular rate of wages cannot be calculated or determined in accordance with any of subsections (3) to (6) because the employer is not required, under paragraph 24(2)(d), to keep records of hours worked by the employee each day and the employer cannot otherwise determine the number of hours that the employee worked during the applicable period; or

  • (b) the employee’s regular rate of wages, as calculated or determined in accordance with any of subsections (3) to (6), is less than that minimum wage rate.

• (8) For the purposes of subsections (3) to (5), vacation pay, general holiday pay, personal leave pay, pay for leave for victims of family violence, bereavement leave pay, overtime pay and pay received under section 146.5, subsection 205(2) or 251.12(5) or section 288 of the Act are not taken into account in the calculation of wages earned.

Multi-employer Employment

• 19 (1) In this section,

  basic rate of wages

  basic rate of wages means the basic hourly wage rate of an employee excluding any premium or bonus rates paid under any specific conditions of his employment; (taux de salaire de base)

  employee

  employee means an employee engaged in multi-employer employment; (employé)

  employer

  employer means the employer of an employee; (employeur)

  longshoring employment

  longshoring employment means employment in the loading or unloading of ship’s cargo and in operations related to the loading or unloading of ship’s cargo; (emploi au débardage)

  multi-employer employment

  multi-employer employment means longshoring employment in any port in Canada where by custom the employee engaged in such employment would in the usual course of a working month be ordinarily employed by more than one employer; (travail au service de plusieurs employeurs)

  multi-employer unit

  multi-employer unit means an association of employers designated by the Minister as a multi-employer unit. (groupe de plusieurs employeurs)

• (2) When an employee of an employer who is a member of a multi-employer unit is entitled to wages for multi-employer employment, the employee is entitled to and shall be paid by the multi-employer unit an amount equal to their basic rate of wages multiplied by one twentieth of the hours, exclusive of overtime hours, that they worked in the four-week period immediately preceding the week in which a general holiday occurs.

• (3) Where an employee is employed by an employer who is not a member of a multi-employer unit, the employee is entitled to and shall be paid, on each pay day, in lieu of general holidays, an amount equal to three and one-half per cent of his basic rate of wages multiplied by the number of hours worked by the employee for that employer in the pay period for which he is paid on that pay day.

• (4) In addition to any amounts that an employee is entitled to under subsections (2) and (3), an employee who is required by an employer to work on a general holiday shall be paid at a rate of not less than one and one-half times his basic rate of wages for the time worked by him on that day.

• (5) The Minister may by order designate an association of employers as a multi-employer unit for any port or ports if

  • (a) the association has set up and administers a central pay office to record the employment of the employees of the employers who are members of the association and to pay wages to such employees on behalf of their employers; and

  • (b) the Minister is satisfied that the central pay office so set up by the association of employers is authorized to collect from each of the members of the association and pay out on their behalf to their employees the pay required to be paid to those employees pursuant to this section.

• (6) For the purposes of subsections 177.1(1), 206.6(2), 206.7(2.1), 206.8(1), 210(2), 230(1), 235(1) and 239(1.2), paragraph 240(1)(a) and subsection 247.5(1) of the Act, if an employee is engaged in multi-employer employment, that employee is deemed to be continuously employed.

Determination of Hourly Rate of Wages

• 20 (1) Subject to subsections (2) and (3), for the purposes of calculating and determining the regular hourly rate of wages of employees who are paid on any basis of time other than hourly, an employer shall divide the wages paid for work performed by the number of hours required to perform the work.

• (2) The regular hourly rate of wages for the purposes of paragraph 174(1)(a) and subsections 174(4) and (5), 197(1) and 205(2) of the Act may be the rate agreed on under a collective agreement that is binding on the employer and the employee.

• (3) For the purposes of subsection (1),

  • (a) the wages paid for work performed do not include vacation pay, general holiday pay, other holiday pay, bereavement leave pay and wages paid for any hours of overtime; and

  • (b) the number of hours required to perform the work does not include hours for which an overtime rate of wages has been paid.

Board, Living Quarters and other Remuneration

21 Where board or living quarters or both are furnished by or on behalf of an employer to an employee and the arrangement is accepted by the employee, the amount by which the wages of the employee may be reduced, for any pay period, below the minimum hourly wage established under section 178 of the Act either by deduction from wages or by payment from the employee to the employer for such board or living quarters, shall not exceed

• (a) for board, $0.50 for each meal; and

• (b) for living quarters, $0.60 per day.

22 For the purposes of calculating and determining wages, the monetary value of any board, lodging or any remuneration other than money received by an employee in respect of his employment shall be of the amount that has been agreed upon between the employer and the employee, or where there is no such agreement or the amount agreed upon unduly affects the wages of the employee, the amount as may be determined by the Head of Compliance and Enforcement.

Payment of Wages, Vacation or Holiday Pay or other Remuneration when Employee Cannot Be Found

• 23 (1) Where an employer is required to pay wages to an employee or an employee is entitled to payment of wages by the employer and the employee cannot be found for the purposes of making such payment, the employer shall, not later than six months after the wages became due and payable, pay the wages to the Head of Compliance and Enforcement and such payment shall be deemed to be payment to the employee.

• (1.1) Prior to paying the wages to the Head of Compliance and Enforcement under subsection (1), the employer shall, not later than two months after the wages become due and payable, by written notice delivered personally or sent by registered mail to the employee’s last known address, inform the employee of the wages to which the employee is entitled.

• (2) The Head of Compliance and Enforcement shall deposit any amounts received under subsection (1) to the credit of the Receiver General in an account to be known as the “Labour Standards Suspense Account”, and the Head of Compliance and Enforcement may authorize payments out of the Account to any employee whose wages are held therein.

• (3) The Head of Compliance and Enforcement shall keep a record of receipts and disbursements from the Labour Standards Suspense Account.

Reimbursement of Reasonable Work-Related Expenses

• 23.1 (1) For the purposes of subsection 238.1(1) of the Act, the factors to consider in determining whether or not an expense is work-related are

  • (a) whether the expense is connected to the employee’s performance of work;

  • (b) whether the expense enables an employee to perform work;

  • (c) whether incurring the expense is required by the employer as a condition of employment or continued employment;

  • (d) whether the expense satisfies a requirement for the employee’s work imposed by an occupational health or safety standard; and

  • (e) whether the expense is incurred for a legitimate business purpose and not for personal use or enjoyment.

• (2) For the purposes of subsection 238.1(1) of the Act, the factors to consider in determining whether or not an expense is reasonable are

  • (a) whether the expense is connected to the employee’s performance of work;

  • (b) whether the expense is incurred to enable an employee to perform work;

  • (c) whether it is incurred at the request of the employer;

  • (d) whether any amount of expense is incurred beyond the amount necessary to enable the performance of the work;

  • (e) whether the expense is one that is normally reimbursed by employers in similar industries;

  • (f) whether the employer authorized the expense in advance;

  • (g) whether the expense is incurred by the employee in good faith; and

  • (h) whether the claim includes documentation, such as a receipt or invoice, that indicates that the expense was incurred.

• (3) For the purposes of paragraph 238.1(3)(c) of the Act, the time limit for the employer to pay the employee any amount that is payable is 30 days after the day on which the employee submits the claim for payment.