Vacation Pay Rules In New Brunswick

In New Brunswick, the Employment Standards Act of 1982 regulates labour law, including vacation pay. After 12 months of employment, employees are entitled to an annual vacation and to be paid for that time off. The amount of vacation pay depends on how long an employee has worked for the company. For instance, an employee who has worked for their employer for less than eight years is entitled to at least one day per month worked or at least two weeks of vacation per year.

Annual leave entitlement

In New Brunswick, the Employment Standards Act of 1982 regulates the terms and conditions of employment, including annual leave entitlements.

All employees in New Brunswick earn vacation pay, regardless of the amount of hours worked. After 12 months of employment, an employee becomes entitled to receive an annual vacation. The amount of vacation pay given depends on the length of service with the company.

Employees who have worked for their employer for less than eight years are entitled to the lesser of the following two options:

• At least one day per month worked (or 12 days total)
• At least two weeks of vacation per vacation year

Those who have been with the company for more than eight years are entitled to the lesser of these options:

• At least 1.25 days for each month worked (or 15 days total)
• At least three weeks of vacation per vacation year

Employees can take their annual leave once they have completed one year of service with the same employer. The employer must allow the employee to take their vacation no later than four months after they have earned the vacation time.

In terms of pay, employees with less than eight years of service are entitled to receive annual leave pay equal to 4% of their gross wages (before deductions). For those with eight or more years of service, this increases to 6% of gross wages. In both cases, employees must receive all their accumulated vacation pay at least one day before their vacation begins.

Vacation pay calculation

In New Brunswick, the Employment Standards Act regulates that employees are required to take time off for an annual vacation and be paid for this time. After 12 months of employment, an employee becomes entitled to receive an annual vacation.

Vacation Leave Quota

An employee who has been with the company for less than 8 years is entitled to the lesser of the following two options for vacation leave:

• At least 1 day per month worked
• At least 2 weeks of vacation per vacation year

An employee who has been with the company for more than 8 years is entitled to the lesser of the following two options for vacation leave:

• At least 1.25 days for each month worked
• At least 3 weeks of vacation per vacation year

All employees earn vacation pay regardless of the amount of hours worked. Employees are entitled to receive their accumulated vacation pay at least one day before their vacation begins.

An employee who has worked for the employer for less than 8 years is entitled to receive vacation pay that is equal to 4% of their gross wages (before deductions).

An employee who has worked for the employer for 8 or more years is entitled to receive vacation pay that is equal to 6% of their gross wages (before deductions).

Payment of Accrued, Unused Vacation on Termination

If an employee is terminated or quits before taking their vacation time, they are entitled to receive their entire vacation pay when their employment ends. The payment must be included in the employee’s final paycheck.

Public holiday pay

In New Brunswick, there are eight official public holidays:

• Family Day (third Monday in February)
• The Friday before Easter Sunday
• New Brunswick Holiday (first Monday in August)
• The first Monday in September
• New Year's Day
• Canada Day
• Christmas Day
• Boxing Day

Employees are entitled to public holiday pay if they meet the following eligibility criteria:

• Employed by the same employer for at least 90 calendar days in the 12 months before the paid holiday.
• Worked their scheduled day of work before and after the holiday (not necessarily the day immediately before or after the holiday), unless there is a good reason for not doing so (most reasons related to illness are considered acceptable).
• Reported for work and worked their scheduled shift on the public holiday, if they had agreed to do so, unless there was a good reason for not doing so.

There are two ways to calculate holiday pay in New Brunswick:

Option One: Paid like a regular day

You pay the employee a regular day’s wage for the statutory holiday when the holiday arrives—even if they are not scheduled to work on the day the holiday falls. If an employee works a variety of shifts, a regular day is calculated by taking the number of hours worked in the last 30 days (not including overtime) and dividing it by the number of days worked.

Option Two: Paid a bit on each paycheque

You have the option of paying 4% of an employee’s total gross wages on each paycheque. Over the course of the year, the 4% is equivalent to what a full-time employee would earn for a holiday using method one. This method may be easier to track for employers that have shift work and casual workers.

Additionally, regardless of how holiday pay is calculated, if an employee works on a statutory holiday, they will also get paid one and a half times their hourly wage for that day.

Employees in certain occupations (e.g. professionals, house and car salesmen) do not qualify to receive pay for a public holiday.

Time off for voting

According to the Canada Elections Act, all employees in New Brunswick must be given three consecutive hours off work to vote while the polling stations are open, which is between 10:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. on election day. If an employee's work shift starts after 10:00 a.m. but before 1:00 p.m., or ends after 5:00 p.m. but before 8:00 p.m., their employer is only required to give them enough time to ensure they have three clear, uninterrupted hours to vote while the polls are open.

Employees who are scheduled to work on election day must be paid for the time they take off to vote, and this time is reimbursed by the employer. This paid time off for voting is separate from an employee's vacation pay.

In addition to voting in person on election day, eligible voters in New Brunswick can also vote at advance polls without providing a reason, or they can use a special ballot to vote on any day throughout the entire election period. Special ballots are available at any returning office.

Annual leave upon termination

In New Brunswick, employees who are terminated or resign before taking their annual leave are entitled to receive all outstanding annual leave pay when their employment ends. This payment must be included in the employee's final paycheck.

According to the New Brunswick Employment Standards Act, employees are required to take time off for an annual vacation and must be paid for this time. After 12 months of employment, an employee becomes eligible for an annual vacation.

The amount of vacation pay given to each employee depends on their length of service with the company. Employees with less than eight years of service are entitled to the lesser of the following two options for vacation leave:

• At least one day per month worked
• At least two weeks of vacation per year

On the other hand, employees with eight or more years of service are entitled to the lesser of the following:

• At least 1.25 days for each month worked
• At least three weeks of vacation per year

Additionally, employees with less than eight years of service are entitled to receive vacation pay equal to 4% of their gross wages, while those with eight or more years of service receive 6%. In both cases, employees must receive their accumulated vacation pay at least one day before their vacation begins.

Frequently asked questions