Workers' Rights Refresher: Minimum Wage, Breaks, Statutory Holidays, and More

The fall hiring frenzy is upon us, people, which means there’s no better time to review the basic rights of employees in Quebec!

Unsure if you’re being paid a legal wage? Wondering if you should be remunerated for training and uniforms? Read on to get your questions answered!

MINIMUM WAGE & PAYMENT OF WAGES

In most cases, your employer is required to pay you the minimum wage. This amount tends to increase annually in Quebec. The rates below have been in effect since May 1st, 2024:

• General rate: $15.75/hour
• Employees receiving tips:$12.60/hour 

*Note that training should be remunerated at all times.

Your employer has one month to provide you with your first payment as an employee; following this, they must provide you with payment at a regular interval of no more than 16 days. The most common pay schedule is once every two weeks.

If the office is closed on a scheduled pay day, the payment must be given beforehand. Moreover, every employee must receive a pay stub at the time of payment, or have access to an electronic version.

BREAKS & WORK SCHEDULE

15-minute breaks are not mandatory; however, if they are granted, they should be remunerated. 

30-minute meal breaks should be granted when working a period of 5 consecutive hours; they are not remunerated.

If you work for a period of less than 3 hours—for example, because there weren’t very many customers and your boss sends you home early—you are entitled to 3 hours’ worth of pay.

• Exceptions: If you are called in for a period of less than 3 hours and agree to it, or in the case of “force majeure” outside of anyone’s control (e.g. fire, power outage, etc.), or if you are an employee that is hired for less than 3 hours of work, then you are not entitled to a full 3 hours’ worth of pay.

WORKING ON STATUTORY HOLIDAYS

You have the right to be paid for an official holiday, even if you don’t normally work on that day. If your employer requires you to work on an official holiday, you are entitled to either an indemnity in addition to your regular wages or a paid day off (the employer chooses which one). If you are on vacation at the time of the official holiday, you are entitled to either an indemnity or paid leave.

Holiday Pay Calculation:

• The indemnity paid for a statutory holiday is equal to 1/20 (5%) of wages earned during the four complete weeks of pay that precede the week of the holiday.
• If you receive tips, the amount of tips received should be taken into account.

Statutory Holidays:

There are 8 paid statutory holidays in Quebec.

• January 1st (New Year’s Day)
• Good Friday OR Easter Monday (the employer chooses which one)
• the Monday preceding May 25th (Victoria Day)
• June 24th (Fête nationale); or June 25th, if the holiday falls on a Sunday**
  • **Special rules apply—contact HOJO for details.
• July 1st (Canada Day); or July 2nd, if the holiday falls on a Sunday
• the first Monday in September (Labour Day)
• the second Monday in October (Thanksgiving)
• December 25th (Christmas Day)

UNIFORMS & SPECIAL CLOTHING

Any item of clothing that is clearly identifiable with the company (e.g. a shirt with a logo) must be provided free of charge to all employees.

In the case of clothing without logos but with a general requirement (e.g. black pants), employees who are paid at minimum wage should be reimbursed for this expense. 

• An employee who is paid at a wage higher than the minimum wage may be asked to pay for the purchase or upkeep of required clothing; but they must always be paid at least minimum wage once the clothing expenses have been deducted from their salary.

The following example from the Commission des normes, de l’équité, de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CNESST) website illustrates how this would play out in the case of an employee earning more than minimum wage:

“Kym works in a restaurant and has to wear a black sweater at work. She earns $16 (the minimum wage is $15.75 an hour). Her employer may not deduct more than $0.25 an hour ($16 – $15.75 = $0.25) for the cost of the purchase or upkeep of her black sweater. The deduction must be made over a period that is long enough to cover the full payment of the item of clothing, for otherwise she would be paid less than the minimum wage.”

RIGHT TO REFUSE TO WORK

In some circumstancess, employees may be allowed to refuse work:

Right to Refuse to Perform a Task

• If your employer asks you to perform a task that you believe is unsafe, you are allowed to refuse to do so. You must immediately inform your supervisor and tell them why you consider the task to be unsafe.
• It is then up to the employer and the worker to propose alternative measures and reach a solution. If they cannot come to an agreement, they may ask a CNESST inspector to intervene—contact HOJO for more information!

Right to Refuse to Work Overtime

You may refuse to work overtime if, on a given day:

1. You are asked to work more than two hours longer than your regular hours, or or more than 14 hours in a 24-hour period
2. You are asked to work more than 12 hours in a 24-hour period (this only applies to workers whose daily hours are flexible or non-continuous)
3. You are asked to come in on a day which you do not normally work and you were not informed of this schedule 5 days in advance.

CASHIERS – IF THE CASH REGISTER IS SHORT

If someone else had access to the register during you shift, you cannot be asked to pay for any amount missing from the cash register; but if you were the only one who had access to the cash register, the employer has the right to demand this amount from you.

IF YOU DAMAGE THE EMPLOYER’S PROPERTY 

If you accidentally break or damage the employer’s property while on the job (e.g. you drop some dishes, you jam the printer, etc.), your employer cannot demand that you pay them for the damages, nor can they deduct any pay from your wages.

TERMINATION

Before your employer terminates your employment, they must provide you with notice (exception: contractual employees). If they do not, then you are entiled to a compensatory indemnity equal to the wages that you normally would have earned between the date when the notice was given and the date of termination.

Length of Uninterrupted Service & Termination Notice Required:

• 3 months to 1 year: 1 week
• 1–5 years: 2 weeks
• 5–10 years: 4 weeks
• 10 years or more: 8 weeks

If you’re experiencing an issue at work or don’t believe your rights as an employee are being respected, contact the CSU Off-Campus Housing and Job Resource Centre (HOJO)! You can drop in at our office (H-224) during opening hours or shoot us an email at hojo@csu.qc.ca .