Clarification from the MOL regarding granting vacation time and pay to part time employees. A Must-Read!

1. Part Time Staff and Vacation
Time/Pay- MOL Clarification
Kathryn Kissinger HR Services 2013

2. Keep Track of Employee Vacation
I have learned some important information from the
Ministry of Labour (MOL) regarding the tracking of
vacation pay and granting vacation time off for Part
Time employees.
I attended an MOL hearing last week for a terminated
employee who was claiming his former employer did not pay
him vacation pay or give him vacation days off during the
two years he worked part time for the employer (he worked
there for just over five years in total).
Kathryn Kissinger HR Services 2013

3. Keep Track of Employee Vacations
The vacation pay paid out and time off had not
been recorded properly, and the employee could
have won that part of the case.
At issue was the fact that since Part time employees
don’t work every day, there is sometimes a
misconception that they do not get or need
vacation time off the same way full time staff do.
This is not true!
Kathryn Kissinger HR Services 2013

4. Very Important!
New employees (part or full time does not matter)
must be granted vacation time and pay as follows:
Vacation Pay must be paid to all employees at a
minimum rate of 4% of their gross hourly pay and
must be recorded on their pay stubs, both the accrual
and pay out of the vacation money. Vacation pay is
paid from the first minute they work, even to
probationary employees.
Kathryn Kissinger HR Services 2013

5. Vacation Pay
The part time employees should accrue (build up) vacation
pay each pay period, and have this money given to them
when they take vacation time off (more on this in a
minute).
If your employee wants to have their vacation pay given
to them on every paycheque, you MUST GET A
SIGNED AGREEMENT from the employee, otherwise
the MOL considers this money a gift to the employee,
even if recorded as vacation pay on the paystub.
Kathryn Kissinger HR Services 2013

6. Vacation Time
Vacation Time must be granted to part time staff in the same manner as
the full time staff. Record on the work schedule that the employee is on
vacation, and keep a copy of the schedule in the employee’s file. It is best
to use a vacation request form to document that the employee has
requested and been given vacation time off, which should correspond to
the posted work schedule.
From start day until the first anniversary of work: NO VACATION
TIME OFF SHOULD BE GRANTED, (but it does accrue) as they
have not yet earned this time off, otherwise this time off becomes a gift if
they stop working for you before the end of the first year. The employee
must then take the vacation within ten (10) months of accrual.
Kathryn Kissinger HR Services 2013

7. Vacation Time
If your employee does not want to take
vacation TIME OFF, you MUST get
APPROVAL from the Ministry of Labour
before this will be acceptable.
Not just a signed agreement, but actual
written approval from the MOL.
Kathryn Kissinger HR Services 2013

8. Summary
Employers should not grant vacation requests to
full and part time staff during the first year of
employment in order to ensure that the employee is
not obtaining “gifts” to which they would not
otherwise be entitled.
Employers must carefully document and track the
vacation TIME OFF given, especially to part time
staff.
Kathryn Kissinger HR Services 2013