Hours of Work

Your employer must schedule your work hours and post the schedule at least a week in advance. They can change your schedule with less than one week's notice if there is an emergency or something unexpected happens. The schedule must include:

• the time work begins and ends
• if the work is done in shifts, the time each shift begins and ends
• the time when a meal break begins and ends

Most employers cannot schedule you to work more than 44 hours in a week unless you agree. If there is a public holiday in the week, this changes to 36 hours. Your employer can, however, schedule you longer if there is an emergency or something unexpected happens.

Most employers must give you at least 8 hours off in any 24-hour period unless there is an emergency. An emergency is where a person, or the employer’s property or business, is at risk because something unexpected happened.

If you work 20 or more hours in a week, your employer must give you at least 1 day off that week. Your employer must give you 2 consecutive days off per week if you:

• work for more than 20 hours a week in a retail store that has more than 10 employees
• work fighting forest or prairie fires
• are a live-in care provider
• are a live-in domestic worker

You must usually be given a half-hour meal break within every 5 consecutive hours of work. Meal breaks are not required to be paid breaks. Your employer can decide not to grant a meal break:

• in unexpected, unusual or emergency situations
• if it would not be reasonable for the employee to take a meal break

If you work 5 consecutive hours and do not get a meal break, your employer must allow you to eat while working. If you are required to work or be available to work during your meal break, you must be paid during that time.

If you work more than 40 hours in a week, your employer must pay you the overtime rate for those extra hours. Overtime is paid at 1.5 times your regular wage. The amount of time before you start getting overtime is reduced by 8 hours for each public holiday in a week.

You also receive overtime pay if you work more than a certain number of hours in any day. Overtime depends on how your employer schedules employees. Employers can choose to use 8 hour shifts 5 days a week or 10 hour shifts 4 days a week. If your employer chooses 8-hour days, you will be paid overtime after 8 hours. If your employer chooses 10-hour days, you will be paid overtime after 10 hours.

Part-time employees are always entitled to overtime if they work more than 8 hours in a day. Employers cannot opt for 10-hour workdays for part-time employees.

Some workers do not get overtime pay unless it is agreed to with the employer, such as:

• managerial and professional employees
• some kinds of travelling sales people
• car salespeople
• people working for outfitters, fishers or trappers

Employers who use modified work weeks or apply for a permit from Employment Standards may have different overtime rules.

Employer and employees can agree in writing to set up an overtime bank instead of paid overtime. 1.5 hours are banked for every hour of overtime worked. Employees can then draw on the bank and take paid time off at their regular pay. Banked time must be used or paid out within one year of it being banked.

If an employer or employee wants to stop using an overtime bank, they must provide notice of at least one pay-period. If an employee leaves the job or is terminated, all their banked time must be paid out within 14 days of their last day of work.