| Employment Standards |
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British Columbia’s Employment Standards legislation sets certain minimum requirements for hours of work, wages, overtime pay, and other terms and conditions of employment. These provisions are similar to standards that are in effect across North America. |
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| Hours of Work and Overtime Pay |
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Standard work day/week (see Averaging Agreements for flexible
work scheduling) |
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8 hours per day / 40 hours per week |
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| Standard overtime (see Averaging Agreements for alternative
overtime rules) |
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- Daily: After 8 hours, 1.5 x regular pay for the next 4 hours worked and
2 x regular rate for additional hour
- Weekly: After 40 hours, 1.5 x
regular pay (only the first 8 hours worked each day are used
to calculate total hours for overtime)
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| Averaging Agreements |
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Averaging Agreements allow hours of work to be scheduled outside of
the standard 8-hour day/40-hour week.
Hours of work may be spread over 1 – 4
weeks, provided that total hours worked do not average more than 40 hours
over the period of the agreement |
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| Overtime pay under Averaging Agreements |
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After 8 hours in a day, if extra hours have been added to an employees
schedule, or if an employee works more than an average of 40 hours
in a week over the averaging period (e.g., more than 80 hours over 2 weeks,
or more
than 120 hours over 3 weeks |
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| Paid Holidays and Vacations |
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Statutory holidays |
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9 per year |
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| Annual vacation entitlement |
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Depends on length of employment:
- Less than 1 year: No vacation entitlement (must be paid 4% vacation pay
if terminated)
- 1 – 5 years: 2 weeks
- More than 5 years: 3 weeks
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| Minimum Wages |
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Regular minimum wage |
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C$8 per hour |
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| First job minimum wage |
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C$6 per hour for employees with no previous paid work experience. Applies to the first 500 hours of work with one or more employers |
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| Employee Termination and Temporary Layoffs |
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Termination |
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No notice is required if an employee quits or is fired for “just
cause,” Otherwise employees are generally eligible for working
notice (or pay compensation):
- After 3 months: 1 week
- After 12 months: 2 weeks
- After 3 years: 1 week for each year of employment
up to 8 weeks maximum
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| Temporary layoff |
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No notice or pay compensation is required for employees laid-off temporarily.
A “layoff week” is one in which an employee earns less than 50% of
regular weekly wages, averaged over the previous 8 weeks |
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| Legislation |
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BC Employment Standards Act |
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| Responsibility |
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BC Ministry of Skills, Labour and Training |
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| Online Resources |
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Employment Standards Fact Sheets |
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| Obtaining a Work Permit |
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Foreign workers and personnel need a federal Work Permit to work in
Canada. Canadian-based employers wishing to hire or transfer foreign personnel
need a prior “labour validation” to confirm that Canadians
are not available to fill the position, unless they qualify for a validation
exemption.
Validation exemptions exist under the North American Free
Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the General Agreement on Trade in Services
(GATS),
and special programs.
NAFTA validation exemptions:
- Intra-company Transferees (executives, managers
and specialists)
- Professionals (approximately 60 designated occupations)
- Investors (key
US personnel involved in the start-up of a Canadian business)
- Business
Visitors (US and Mexican citizens engaged in specified activities,
e.g., research, manufacturing, after-sales service,
sales and distribution)
GATS validation exemptions:
- Intra-company Transferees (executives, managers
and specialists) to be employed in service activities specified
in GATS
- Professionals (7 designated categories, e.g., engineers)
Special program
exemptions:
- Information Technology Workers (designated specialists,
e.g., telecom systems designers, animation editors, embedded
software systems designers)
- Spousal Employment (spouses of managers and highly-skilled
personnel)
Note: Additional specific criteria apply to validation
exemptions |
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| Legislation |
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Immigration and Refugee Protection Act |
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| Responsibility |
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Citizenship and Immigration Canada |
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| Online Resources |
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Working Temporarily in Canada
IT
Workers Labour Validation Exemption |
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