Human Resources Update: Public Holiday Pay Rules Reinstated Effective July 1, 2018
The way Public Holiday Pay is calculated was changed in January 2018 as part of the introduction of Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act (Bill 148). However, due to input from businesses and business associations, the Ontario Government has retracted those changes to provide them with time to conduct further study on their impact, and has reinstated the rules in place prior to January 1, 2018.
As stated on the Ministry of Labour website:
“On Monday, May 7, 2018 the Government made a new regulation (Reg.375/18) that reinstates the previous formula for calculating public holiday pay that applied prior to January 1, 2018. This change takes effect
July 1, 2018 and generally applies to all employees covered by the Employment Standards Act. Information on public holiday pay – for public holidays that occur after July 1, 2018.”
Clarification on how to calculate the public holiday pay is provided in this excerpt from Your Guide to Employment Standards Act on the Ministry website.
Public holiday pay for public holidays after July 1, 2018
For public holidays that occur after July 1, 2018, the amount of public holiday pay to which an employee is entitled is all of the regular wages earned by the employee in the four work weeks before the work week with the public holiday plus all of the vacation pay payable to the employee with respect to the four work weeks before the work week with the public holiday, divided by 20. The Ministry of Labour offers a Public Holiday Pay Calculator for your convenience.
Please refer to the Vacation chapter for information on the different ways vacation pay can be paid.
Source: https://www.ontario.ca/document/your-guide-employment-standards-act-0/public-holidays