What You Need to Know About Employment Standards

Alberta has rules about wages, hours of work and rest, overtime, vacation, general holidays (often referred to as statutory holidays or stats) and other working conditions.

These rules are called “employment standards” and can be found in the Employment Standards Code [pdf] and Employment Standards Regulation [pdf]. They are the minimum work standards for most employers and employees. There are some federally regulated industries that are exempt from Alberta's employment standards.

Here are some key questions you may have about the rules in your workplace. The answers will help you understand the minimum standards required by the Employment Standards Code.

Jump to:

  1. Your first 3 months
  2. General holidays and vacations
  3. Hours of work and pay
  4. Leaving your job temporarily
  5. Leaving your job permanently
  6. Collecting Employment Insurance (EI)
  7. Youth employment
  8. Other considerations
  9. Have an Employment Standards complaint?

Your first 3 months

During your first 3 months on the job, you or your employer may end employment without written notice or termination pay. Don’t confuse this with working for free or a trial period before you’re officially hired and on the payroll—something an employer can’t request and you can’t offer. Once hired, you must be paid during orientation and training. After training, you’re entitled to pay and other Employment Standards Code entitlements. Employment Standards doesn’t cover you if you’re enrolled in officially recognized unpaid work experience programs, such as through a school board, but other rules apply to protect you.

General holidays and vacations

What if I work on general holidays?

Alberta recognizes 9 general holidays. These are also called statutory holidays or stats. Most employees, full-time and part-time, are entitled to paid general holidays if they have worked 30 workdays in the last 12 months before the general holiday. Alberta’s general holidays are:

If you’re eligible for general holiday pay, it falls on a normal workday, and you work on that day, you will be paid your average daily wage plus time-and-a-half for every hour you work, or you may receive your regular wage for every hour you work plus a day off with pay at average daily wage.

If you’re eligible for general holiday pay, it falls on a normal workday, but you don’t work on that day, you will still be paid your average daily wage.

If you’re eligible for general holiday pay, but it doesn’t fall on a normal workday, you can still be eligible for general holiday pay as long as you work on the day. You will be paid at time-and-a-half for every hour you work on the holiday. Visit General holidays for more information.

Is vacation pay included on every cheque?

For most employees, vacation pay is paid at a minimum rate of 4% of your regular wage. After working 1 year for an employer, you are entitled to a minimum of 2 weeks of vacation. Both vacation pay and vacation time increase after 5 consecutive years of employment with the same employer.

Many employers include vacation pay on every cheque; others pay at different times. All employers must pay vacation pay no later than the next payday after your vacation begins. See Vacation pay for more information.

Hours of work and pay

Equal pay for similar work

Under Alberta’s human rights law, men and women working in the same place and doing the same or similar work must be paid at the same wage. Differences in pay must be based on experience, education, or job performance, not on your gender.

What is the minimum wage in Alberta?

As of June 26, 2019, the minimum wage in Alberta is $15.00 per hour for most workers. For more information, see Minimum wage.

Many employers pay more than minimum wage. Your employer can pay you in cash, by cheque, or by direct deposit (putting payment directly into your back account).

Your employer must establish a pay period to calculate your wages, overtime hours, vacation pay, and other details. Typical pay periods are once a week, every 2 weeks, or once a month. Your employer must pay you at least once a month and within 10 days of the end of each pay period. For more information, visit Payment of earnings.

What information will be on my pay stubs?

A pay stub (also called a pay slip or statement of earnings and deductions) is a record of what you have earned and what has been deducted from your earnings. An employer must give you a pay stub, regardless of whether you are paid by cash, cheque, or direct deposit.

Check your pay stub for accuracy as soon as you get it. Keep your pay stubs. You may need them if there’s a dispute between you and your employer or your employer goes out of business and owes you money.

Visit Pay statements for details on the information your pay stub must include.

Working as a contractor

If you contract to work for a certain time or on a certain task, you may be considered self-employed. In this case, different rules for pay, hours of work, tax deductions, Employment Insurance, Canada Pension Plan and Workers’ Compensation may apply. If a temporary employment agency hires you, you may be called a contract worker, but in that case you’re usually an employee, not a self-employed contractor.

What will be deducted from my pay?

Employers are only allowed to make certain deductions from your pay. Some deductions are mandatory and some are optional. Mandatory deductions may include:

Other deductions, which you must approve in writing, may include:

Employers may not deduct money for uniforms or faulty work. Employers may only deduct for cash shortages or loss of property if you have sole access to the cash or property and you sign a form allowing them to do so.

Employers may deduct for payroll errors, overpayments, or vacation pay advances without an employee’s prior authorization. Employers can also deduct money for other purposes, such as parking or a coffee fund, but only if you sign a form allowing them to do so. See Deductions from earnings to learn more.

Keeping your own employment information

Keeping your own records, including your pay stubs, is helpful if you need to clarify something with your employer about pay for the hours you have worked or if you decide to file an official complaint.

Where and when is the shift schedule posted?

Signing in and out of your shifts helps both you and your employer keep track of your hours of work. If you’re not required to sign in and out, it’s still a good idea to keep your own written record of the hours you work.

Your employer must tell you when to start and finish your work by posting schedules where employees can see them or by any other reasonable method. Your employer must notify you at least 24 hours before a shift change. If there is a shift change, you must be allowed at least 8 hours of rest between shifts.

What scheduled rest breaks and what days off will I have?

You're entitled to one 30-minute paid or unpaid break after the first 5 hours of work for shifts that are between 5 and 10 hours long. This rest period can be one 30-minute break, or two 15-minute breaks. When you work a shift that is less than 5 hours, your employer does not have to provide a break. When you work a shift that is 10 hours or longer, you are entitled to one 60-minute break, two 30-minute breaks, or four 15-minute breaks. Breaks may be paid or unpaid, depending on the decision of your employer.

Your employer must provide you with weekly rest days or days off. You must get one day of rest each week or rest days as follows:

After 24 consecutive days of work, you must get at least 4 consecutive days off. Visit Hours of work and rest for more information, including exceptions to the rules mentioned above.

What happens if I work overtime?

Your employer may ask you to work overtime. Typically, overtime is the total number of hours you work beyond 8 hours a day or 44 hours a week—whichever adds up to the greater number of hours beyond this threshold. There are some exceptions: for example, for domestic employees such as nannies. There are also some industries and occupations with different overtime thresholds: for example, trucking and ambulance attendants.

Whether you are paid on an hourly, weekly, or monthly basis or on an annual salary, you must be paid for overtime work. The rate of pay is at least 1.5 times your regular wage unless there is a collective agreement that gives you a better rate. If you are working under an overtime agreement to bank those hours, your employer also has the option to provide time off in-lieu of overtime pay.

An overtime agreement allows employers and employees the option to create straight-time banked hours arrangements. As an employee, this means that for every hour of overtime you bank, you can later take that time off with regular pay. You must take this time off within 6 months of the pay period in which you banked the hours. An overtime agreement, which is voluntary, must be in writing and signed by both you and your employer. Your employer must give you a copy of the agreement.

For more information on overtime rules in Alberta, visit Overtime hours and overtime pay.

Your employer might have you work your hours according to an averaging arrangement. See Averaging arrangements for more information.

Leaving your job temporarily

Job-protected leaves

There are a number of leaves you may take to deal with personal or family situations, such as illness, without having to worry about losing your job. When you return from a qualified leave, you must come back to either your same job or an equal job.

For a list of these leaves and more details on how they work, visit Job-protected leaves.

Temporary layoffs and recalls

Your employer can temporarily lay you off for up to 90 days within a 120-day period without giving a termination notice.

Your employer must send you written notice stating that you're being temporarily laid off. The notice also needs to include the date the layoff begins and sections 62 to 64 of the Employment Standards Code.

If you do not receive proper notice, you may be entitled to termination notice and pay.

If you have not been recalled to work within 90 days, your employer must provide termination notice and pay, unless they agree to pay wages and/or benefits during your layoff. The 90-day rules do not apply if you work for the school system or drive a school bus. During your layoff, your employer may call you back to work with 1 week written notice. If you do not return to work within 1 week, you are not entitled to termination notice or termination pay.

See Temporary layoffs for more information.