What are your rights?

As an employee in British Columbia, you are legally entitled to the following minimum wage:

• General minimum wage: $17.40/hour

Specific occupations such as live-in home support workers, resident caretakers, and farm workers have their own minimum wage standards.

Paydays and Wage Statements

You must be paid at least 2 times per month.  All money earned in a pay period, including overtime and statutory holiday pay, must be paid within eight days after the end of the pay period.

Your employer must provide you with a written or electronic pay statement each payday that shows all details about hours worked, rate(s) of pay, earnings and deductions. Wages must be paid in Canadian currency.

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After 90 days of employment, you can take up to 5 paid days and 3 unpaid days of job-protected sick leave per calendar year.

You can take time away from work without warning to deal with unexpected illnesses or life situations. You don't need to give the employer advance notice, but you should notify your employer as soon as you can.

An employer can ask for reasonably sufficient proof (ie: a doctor’s note) that you are entitled to this leave.

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Most working hour rules are based on an 8 hour day and 40 hour work week

Regular Hours of Work Rules

• You are entitled to at least a 30-minute meal break if you work five hours in a row. (Your employer does not have to pay you for meal breaks unless you are required to work or be available for work during this break.)
• Employers are not required to provide coffee breaks.
• If you report for work you must be paid for at least two hours, even if you work less than two hours.
• A split shift must be completed within 12 hours of when the shift started
• You must have at least 32 hours in a row free from work each week. If you work during this period, you must be paid time-and-a-half for all hours worked.
• An employer must not require or allow you to work excessive hours or hours harmful to your health or safety.

Overtime Pay

You are entitled to overtime pay if you work more than:

• 8 hours per day – You must be paid time-and-a-half for the next four hours worked, and double time for all hours worked in excess of 12 hours in a day.

OR

• More than 40 hours in a week – You must be paid time-and-a-half after 40 hours. This applies even if you never work more than eight hours in a day.

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There are 11 statutory holidays in British Columbia:

• New Year's Day (January 1)
• Family Day (February)
• Good Friday (March or April)
• Victoria Day (May)
• Canada Day (July 1)
• B.C. Day (August)
• Labour Day (September)
• National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (September)
• Thanksgiving Day (October)
• Remembrance Day (November 11)
• Christmas Day (December 25)

Note: Easter Sunday, Easter Monday and Boxing Day are not statutory holidays.

To be eligible for statutory holiday pay you must:

• Have been employed for 30 calendar days before the statutory holiday

and

• Have worked or earned wages on 15 of the 30 days immediately before the statutory holiday.

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As an employee, you earn vacation time during the first year you’re employed.

You are entitled to:

• at least 2 weeks annual vacation, after 12 months of employment

OR

• at least 3 weeks, after 5 years of employment

Additional information:

• Your annual vacation is in addition to all statutory holidays you are entitled to
• Your employer must allow you to take your vacation in periods of one or more weeks unless you request a shorter period
• Vacation must be taken within 12 months of being earned

Vacation Pay

Your employer must pay you the following amount of vacation pay:

• After 5 calendar days of employment, at least 4% of your total wages during the year of employment entitling you to vacation pay
• After 5 consecutive years of employment, at least 6% of your total wages during the year of employment entitling you to vacation pay

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Employers usually like some notice before an employee quits, but this is not required. However, if you quit your job without notice, you are not paid compensation for length of employment.

Employers can end an employee's job by giving written working notice or pay (called compensation for length of service). They can also choose to give a combination of both notice and pay. ​

Employers can also fire an employee for just cause. If an employer has just cause, they don't have to give notice or pay.

If you lose your job and don’t get written notice or compensation as agreed, you can contact the Employment Standards Branch (ESB) to file a complaint.

You may be eligible for compensation based on the following formula:

• After three consecutive months of employment – one week’s pay
• After 12 consecutive months of employment – two weeks’ pay
• After three consecutive years – three weeks’ pay, plus one week’s pay for each additional year of employment to a maximum of eight weeks.

No compensation is required if:

• You are given advance written notice of termination equal to the number of weeks for which you are eligible for compensation

• You have not completed three consecutive months of employment
• You quit or retire
• You are dismissed for just cause
• You work on an on-call basis doing temporary assignments, which you can accept or reject

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