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Spring 2022
If you are a business owner based in Alberta, understanding Alberta statutory holidays and payroll guidelines is crucial.
As an employer, you need to know what counts as a general holiday (in Alberta, statutory holiday and general holiday are interchangeable terms), how they are treated differently in each province in Canada, which days are considered stat holidays, and how the pay is calculated.
Read on to find out everything you need to know about statutory holidays in Alberta.
Alberta observes nine statutory holidays throughout the year where employees are eligible to be off work with statutory holiday pay, or work with statutory holiday pay or time off in lie.
In addition to these nine holidays, Alberta has three optional stat holidays. It is up to the employer to decide to designate these days as general holidays. If the employer agrees to any of these days, all employment standards rules related to stat holiday pay still apply for these additional holidays.
The optional days are:
Boxing Day?! While we’re talking about this wonderful time of year, you may want to bookmark our Tips on Managing Staff during the Holidays.
Although Family Day is not a national statutory holiday, it is observed in New Brunswick, Ontario, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia on the third Monday of February. So, yes, Family Day is a statutory holiday in Alberta. In 2023, it is celebrated on Monday, February 20th.
Yes, Victoria Day is a federal statutory holiday, which means Alberta employees are eligible to be off work with statutory holiday pay, or work with statutory holiday pay or time off in lie.
Victoria Day celebrates Queen Victoria's birthday, May 24, 1819. It was originally declared a holiday by the Legislature of the Province of Canada in 1845. After her death in 1901, an Act was passed by the Parliament of Canada establishing a legal holiday on May 24, or May 25 if May 24 fell on a Sunday, under the name Victoria Day. An amendment to the Statutes of Canada in 1952 established the celebration of Victoria Day on the Monday preceding May 25.
In 2023, Victoria Day will be celebrated on Monday, May 23, 2023.
National Reconciliation Day, or Truth and Reconciliation Day, is a national holiday in Canada, but Alberta has not declared it as a provincial holiday. However, some cities and towns in Alberta like Calgary and Edmonton observe September 30 as a statutory holiday for their employees. National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is a stat holiday for all federal employees.
Employees are entitled to statutory holiday pay if they have worked 30 workdays for the same employer in the 12 months prior to the holiday.
Most employees are eligible to receive stat holiday and receive statutory holiday pay if:
The employee must work their last regularly scheduled shift before the holiday, as well as their first regularly scheduled shift after the holiday. If either of these conditions are not met, then an employee is not entitled to stat holiday pay.
For example: Joe works Monday to Friday, and the next stat holiday falls on a Friday. Joe is scheduled to work on the Thursday before the holiday, and the Monday after the holiday. He must work these entire shifts to be eligible for stat pay. Joe has requested Monday off to extend his weekend. His manager approves his request, therefore Joe is still eligible for stat holiday pay.
However, if Joe's request is not accepted, and he does not show up, then he will not receive holiday pay when off.
If the holiday falls on a regular work day and the employee does not work, they get paid at least their average daily wage. If the employee works on the holiday, which is also a regular day of work, the employee is entitled to a rate of 1.5 times their regular wage plus their average daily wage. Or if the employee works on the holiday, they may also opt to receive their regular rate for the hours worked, plus a day off in the future where they receive wages of their average daily rate for that day.
What happens when the holiday falls on a non regular work day? If the employee does not work, they are not eligible for stat holiday pay. If they do work, they receive 1.5 times their regular wage for hours worked, but not their daily average pay.
They sure do! All full time and part time hourly employees are eligible to receive stat pay.
Calculating stat pay for our employees is a necessary and legal part of business, but calculating it accurately makes your place a great place to work. Read our article here about other ways managing human capital helps small business owners retain and elevate great employees.
Public holiday pay is calculated by adding up the number of wages your employee has earned in the 4 weeks prior to the holiday, divided by 20.
The four weeks before the public holiday can be either:
Here's an example: Peter is paid $14/hour and works regular hours 5 days per week. In the 4 weeks (28 days) leading up the holiday, Peter worked 20 days and made $1120. He also worked his last scheduled shift before the holiday and will be working the first shift after. He is eligible for both regular stat pay and premium stat pay should he be scheduled for the day.
In total, Peter will be paid $56 in regular statutory pay, even if he does not work the holiday.
In addition to Alberta stat holiday pay, employees who work on the holiday are also entitled to either:
OR
You, as the employer chooses which of these options will apply.
Last pay period, Jane is paid $12/hour and works four 8 hour shifts. She also works an 8 hour shift on the holiday. She is eligible for both regular and premium stat pay.
To calculate her total stat pay:
PLUS
Can you imagine how much time you would save if you could automate your holiday pay calculations? Well you can.
Push Operations has created smart software that integrates with your staffing back end to automatically calculate stat holiday pay while scheduling and paying staff.
For further information on automating Alberta statutory holiday calculations for 2023, connect with a helpful team member at Push today.
This document is provided by Push Technologies Inc. ("Push Operations") for information purposes only. This is not an official or legal document and should not be taken as legal advice. Push Operations does not guarantee or warrant the accuracy or completeness of the information provided. For the most accurate and up-to-date information, please check with the proper governing authority on Stat holidays in Alberta in 2023.
“In the labor numbers, we were reporting about a $300 to $400 difference than what we were getting through Push!”
-Tara Hardie, ZZA Hospitality Group, 16 locations
