British columbia
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Workers in British Columbia are either Independent Contractors or employees.
Fixed-term Contracts can only last for a total of 3 years before the contract becomes indefinite.
In British Columbia, Workers who have been employed for 30 calendar days and have earned wages on 15 of the 30 days before the statutory holiday are entitled to 10 public holidays. Statutory holiday pay is calculated by taking total wages divided by the number of dates worked, on an average day's pay, based on on 30 days prior to the holiday. This calculation does not include overtime.
Workers are paid holiday pay and time and a half for hours worked on a statutory holiday and double time for hours worked over 12 hours, as well as holiday pay.
Workers accrue two weeks of annual vacation time per year of service, and 4% vacation pay on all wages earned per year of service. After 5 years of service, Workers are entitled to 3 weeks of annual vacation time per year of service and 6% vacation pay on all wages earned.
Workers must complete on year of service before they are entitled to vacation time, unless otherwise authorized in advance by the business. If agreed in writing, businesses can pay vacation in each check, but since this has already been paid, Workers do not receive additional vacation pay while they are off work. If a Worker chooses to accrue vacation pay, it is to be paid to the Worker at least 7 days before an employee starts their annual vacation.
Workers must take accrued vacation within 12 months of it being earned. Workers cannot choose to skip taking vacation and only receive vacation pay instead.
All workers who have been employed for at least 90 days are entitled to 5 days of paid sick leave and 3 days of unpaid sick leave per year. Illness or injury leave does not carry over year-to-year.
A regular work week is 8 hours per day and 40 hours per week. British Columbia has a mandated rest period of 8 hours between shifts and 32 consecutive hours each week.
Hourly, salary, and commission paid Workers are paid 1.5 times the regular rate of pay for each hour worked beyond 8 hours in a day and 40 hours in a week. Workers can make written requests to bank their overtime hours instead of being paid for them during the pay period in which they are earned. Later, they can the banked overtime wages paid out, or use them for time off with pay. Unused banked overtime must be paid to the Worker upon termination.
There are no mandatory bonuses in British Columbia.
Businesses are required to provide written notice for termination or pay in lieu of notice. A business may choose to give a Worker a combination of working notice and pay in lieu of notice. Notice of termination, once given, cannot be withdrawn without the consent of the Worker. In British Columbia, the following minimum statutory notice periods are required: Less than 3 months - no notice; More than 3 months but less than 1 year - 1 week; Over 1 year but less than 3 years - 2 weeks; after 3 years - an additional week per year up to a maximum of 8 weeks. To calculate a week of termination pay, it is the total wages earned by the Worker of the past 8 weeks divided by 8.
Workers should two weeks notice of their resignation unless otherwise agreed to by the parties. There is no legal requirement under the ESA for workers to provide a specific amount of notice before resigning. A business may choose to terminate a Worker sooner as long as they pay in an amount that equals the remaining notice given by the Worker, or the amount of termination pay the business is responsible for paying if they had decided to terminate the Worker, whichever is less.
There is no mandatory severance pay in British Columbia. If a business terminated a Worker without giving notice, they must pay the statutory termination pay in lieu of notice as outlined above.
Final payment must be paid to a terminated worker within 48 hours of after the last day worked, and within 6 days after the last day worked in the case of resignation.
Businesses can provide greater benefits such as supplemental health benefits, paid sick leave, or Retirement Savings, but are not required to do so. In accordance with the Canada Health Act, B.C. has publicly administered and funded Health Insurance B.C. (HIBC). HIBC provides eligible B.C. provides eligible B.C. residents with full coverage for medically necessary physician services, and some dental and oral surgical health services for free.
Maternity benefits are only for the person who is pregnant or has recently given birth. Maternity benefits cannot be shared between parents. Maternity benefits last for a maximum of 15 weeks. Parental benefits are available to parents of a newborn or newly adopted child. Standard parental leave is 52 weeks, and extended parental leave is 78 weeks. Workers may qualify for maternity/parental leave benefits under the federal government's Employment Insurance Program.
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