Country Selector
Last updated on: August 28th, 2023
Labor Requirements
The Alberta Labour law is regulated mainly by Employment Standards Act, 2000,(last amended in 2023). The Code governs the terms and conditions of employment such as working hours, holidays, rest periods, wages, overtime, leave and termination of employment etc.
Hours & Pay Regulations
Normal Working Hours
The standard hours of work of an employee shall not exceed 8 hours in a day and 44 hours in a week (exclusive overtime).
An employee may work a maximum of 12-hours a day (inclusive of overtime) unless an exception occurs such as an accident occurs or urgent work is required, other unforeseeable or unpreventable circumstances, authorizes longer hours. If hours of work have to be extended, they are to be increased only to the extent necessary to avoid serious interference with the ordinary working of a business, undertaking or other activity.
Every employer must notify their employees of the time at which the work starts and ends by posting notices where they can be seen by the employees or by any other reasonable method. Also, an employer must not require an employee to change from one shift to another without at least 24 hours’ written notice and 8 hours of rest between shifts.
If an employment agreement agrees to different types of notice or hours of rest provisions, this restriction does not apply.
Travel time – Employers are entitled to pay employees for travel time if that is considered work. Any travel time that occurs after the employee starts to provide services is recorded as work hours.
On call or on standby at home – If an employee isn’t required to perform work at home, such on-call or standby time is not considered as work performed and does not require payment.
If an employee is required to perform work, the employee is entitled to the 3-hour pay minimum for each period worked. Employment Standards Code, § 16, 17.
Call-in – When an employee has been called to work, they shall be paid for at least 3 hours at the minimum wage each time they report to work. However, this does not apply if the employee is not available to work for a full 3 hours.
In the event that an employee works for a duration of less than 3 hours, the employer is obligated to compensate them with wages equivalent to a minimum of 3 hours’ work at the minimum wage rate.
If the employee’s standard wage exceeds the minimum wage, the employer has the option to remunerate them for fewer than 3 hours of work at this elevated rate, provided that the overall compensation shall be equivalent to 3 hours at the minimum wage. Labor Code, § 16 and Labor Regulation § 13.3; Bill 17 and Employment Standard Regulation.
Recording Requirement – An employer shall maintain the following records as follow:
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- regular and overtime hours of work for each work day; wage rate and overtime rate;
- time off instead of overtime pay provided and taken;
- name, address and date of birth;
- start and end date of on which general holiday, annual holiday, or any other holiday is taken,
- any other information required by the regulations
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An employer shall maintain all this document for 5 years from the date of record. No employer, employee or other person shall falsify an employment record or give any false or misleading information in respect of employment records. Employment Standard Code, § 15.
Overtime
Any work performed beyond 8 hours in a day or 44 hours in a week is considered overtime work. This includes employees who are full-time, part-time, students, temporary help agency assignment employees, or casual employees.
Pay- An employee is entitled to a premium pay at a rate of 1.5 times their regular rate of pay.
Compensatory Time off: Instead of premium pay, an employer and employee can agree to time off in lieu, an employee is entitled to paid 1 hour of time off for every hour of overtime worked.
Employees shall use the compensatory time off within 6 months of the end of the pay period in which they earned it unless there is a collective agreement that allows the period to be extended.
Note: For the purposes of computing overtime, annual leave and statutory general holidays with pay are counted as days of work.
Compressed work weeks/ Averaging Agreements – Averaging arrangements allow employers to schedule an employee or group of employees to work longer hours per day paid at the employee’s regular wage rate.
Calculation period – The employer will average an employee’s hours from 1 to 52 weeks to determine overtime pay or time off with pay.
If an employer wants to extend the averaging period for averaging arrangements beyond the 52-week maximum it will require approval from the Labor Authority or exemption approval.
Overtime is calculated on the greater of weekly or daily overtime hours when daily overtime is included. Averaging period overtime must be paid to the employee no later than 10 days after the pay period that the averaging period ends, which may be as long as 52 weeks, as determined by the employers.
Notice Period – An employer must give each employee at least 2 weeks of written notice before the averaging arrangement starts unless both parties agree otherwise.
This provides flexibility in the calculation of overtime and cases where daily overtime is applicable. Employment Standards Code § 21 – 24.
Breaks
If an employee works at least 5 consecutive hours but less than 10 hours (with 1 rest period) shall be entitled to 30 minutes of break. The break is either paid or unpaid based on agreement between employer and employee.
If the duration of shift is 10 hours or more, the employee is entitled to at least 2 rest breaks of at least 30 minutes each. The break is either paid or unpaid based on agreement between employer and employee.
If an employer and an employee agree, a rest break may be taken in 2 periods of at least 15 minutes each. An employee is not entitled to any breaks if their shift is 5 hours or less.
If an employer and an employee do not agree on a rest period schedule for a shift:
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- the employer must provide a rest period of at least 30 minutes, at a time chosen by the employer, within or immediately following the first 5 hours of the shift, and
- Incase of shift duration of 10 or more hours, the employer must provide a 2nd rest period of at least 30 minutes, at a time chosen by the employer, after the first 5 hours of the shift.
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Employment Standards Code, § 18.
Rest Period
An employee is entitled to a paid rest day each work week. Every employer must allow each employee at least:
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- 1 day of rest in each workweek,
- 2 consecutive days of rest in each period of 2 consecutive work weeks,
- 3 consecutive days of rest in each period of 3 consecutive work weeks, or
- 4 consecutive days of rest in each period of 4 consecutive workweeks.
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Every employer must allow each employee at least 4 consecutive days of rest after every 24 consecutive workdays. If an employer and employee agree to different days of rest provisions under a collective agreement, the above threshold does not apply.
Rest between Shifts – An employee must not be required to change from one shift to another without at least 24 hours of written notice and at least 8 hours of rest between shifts. Employment Standards Code § 18 – 19.
Public Holidays
An employee in Alberta is entitled to 11 public holidays as follows:
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- New Year’s Day,
- Alberta Family Day,
- Good Friday,
- Victoria Day,
- Canada Day,
- Labour Day,
- Thanksgiving Day,
- Remembrance Day,
- Christmas Day,
- any other day designated, by regulation, as a general holiday by the Lieutenant Governor in Council, and
- any other day designated as a general holiday under an agreement between an employer and employees, or otherwise designated as a general holiday by an employer.
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An employee is not entitled to general holiday pay if the employee –
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- does not work on a general holiday when required or scheduled to do so, or
- is absent from employment without the consent of the employer on the employee’s last regular work day preceding, or the employee’s first regular work day following a general holiday.
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Pay – If an employee is not scheduled to work on their public holiday, they will be entitled to receive their regular wage rate on public holidays.
If an employee is scheduled to work on their public holiday, they will be entitled to receive at least:
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- an amount which is at least equal to the daily average wage of the employee, and
- an amount that is at least 1.5 times the employee’s wage rate for each hour of work of the employee on that day.
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Compensatory time off in lieu: An employee will receive one day’s holiday instead of premium pay.
Working on an unscheduled day off work– An employee who has performed any work on their unscheduled day or which is generally not a work day for them, will be entitled to a premium pay of 1.5 times the wage rate of the employee for each hour of work.
Average Daily Wage(ADW) – Average daily wage is calculated as the employee’s wages divided by the number of days the employee worked in either:
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- the 4 weeks immediately preceding the general holiday, or
- the 4 weeks ending on the last day of the pay period that immediately preceded the general holiday.
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Employers can choose whichever option best suits their needs.
General holiday during Annual Vacation – If a general holiday occurs during an employee’s annual vacation, the employer must give the employee a holiday with general holiday pay, of a sum that is at least equal to the average daily wage of the employee. The general holiday must be taken on the employee’s first scheduled working day after the vacation or at any later time on any working day of the employee, as may be agreed with the employer.
General Holiday Pay for Working on an Unscheduled Day of Work – If the general holiday falls on a day that is not normally a workday for the employee and he/she works on such holiday, in such cases, the employer shall pay general holiday pay of an amount equal to 1.5 times the wage rate of the employee for each hour of work on that day.
Effect of General Holiday on Overtime Calculation – When an employee works on a general holiday and is paid general holiday pay of at least 1.5 times the employee’s wage rate for each hour worked, the hours worked are not to be counted for the purpose of calculating any entitlement to overtime pay for the workweek in which the general holiday occurs. Employment Standards Code,§ 25 – 33.
Annual Leave
Duration of Annual Leave – Employees must work for one year before they’re entitled to annual leave. Employees are entitled to these minimum paid annual leave –
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- 2 weeks with pay after each of the first 4 years of employment
- 3 weeks with pay after 5 consecutive years of employment
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Eligibility of Annual Leave – Most employees are entitled to annual leave and pay after being employed for 1 year. However, upon employee request and employer’s acceptance, an employee can take annual leave with pay before completing a full 12 months of employment. Time spent on job-protected leave counts towards the length of employment and is used to determine the number of weeks for annual leave.
Timing of Annual Leave – Employees must take their annual leave time sometime in the 12 months after they earn it. Employers are allowed to deny requests for annual leave at specific times due to operational reasons. If the employer and employee can’t agree on the employee’s annual leave time, the employer can decide when it will be taken. However, the employer must give the employee at least 2 weeks’ notice in writing of the annual leave start date.
Length of Annual Leave – Employers are required to provide annual leave in one unbroken period, however, an employee can request, in writing, for the annual leave to be broken into shorter periods and if the request can be accommodated, the employer should provide this. Annual Leave is allowed to be taken in half-day increments if agreed to by the employer and employee.
Combining leaves – If an employee is approved to combine a leave of absence with a period of annual leave, the annual leave will be considered to precede the leave of absence.
Annual Leave Pay
For employees paid monthly: For each week of annual leave, the employer must pay an employee paid by the month annual leave pay of an amount at least equal to the employee’s wages for the employee’s normal hours of work in a work month divided by 4.3333 (which is the average number of weeks in a month).
For employees paid other than monthly – The employer shall pay annual leave pay to the employee, an amount at least equal to:
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- for an employee with length of employment up to 5 years (entitled to 2 weeks annual leave ) – 4% of the employee’s wages for the year of employment for which annual leave is given, or
- for an employee with length of employment from 5th year onwards (entitled to 3 weeks annual leave) – 6% of the employee’s wages for the year of employment for which annual leave is given.
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Timing of Annual Leave Pay – When an employer pays an employee annual leave pay each pay period, they must pay it at least once a month, or on each pay period, or at least one day before the employee’s vacation if vacation pay has not previously been paid out, and the employee requests it, and no later than the next regular payday after the vacation begins.
Overtime and Holiday Pay are not included for the purposes of calculating Annual leave pay.
Annual Leave coinciding with Public Holiday – If an employee is eligible for a general holiday and such holiday falls during the annual leave period, employees can take off on their first scheduled working day after the annual leave or at any later time on any working day of the employee with holiday pay, as may be agreed with the employer.
Annual Leave Coincides with Other Leaves – Annual vacation earned prior to Maternity, Paternity, Parental Compassionate Care, Death or disappearance of child leave, Reservist leave must be taken within 12 months after it was earned. If this time falls while the employee is on maternity leave, the employee must: take the remaining vacation time at the end of their leave or get approval from the employer to take the vacation time at a later date.
Annual Leave Pay on Termination
Before 12 months of employment – If employment terminates before an employee completes 12 months of employment, the employer must pay 4% of the employee’s wages earned during employment.
After 12 months of employment – If employment terminates after an employee becomes entitled to annual leave, the employer must pay the unpaid vacation entitlements for the previous year, plus:
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- for an employee who’s entitled to 2 weeks annual leave – at least 4% of the employee’s wages for the period from the date they last became entitled to an annual leave to the employment termination date.
- for an employee who is entitled to 3 weeks’ annual leave – at least 6% of the employee’s wages for the period from the date they last became entitled to annual leave to the employment termination date.
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Employment Standard Code § 34 – 44.
Special Leave
Duration of Sick Leave: An employee is entitled to up to 16 weeks of unpaid long-term illness and injury leave each calendar year.
Eligibility Criteria of Sick Leave: Employees are eligible for long-term illness and injury leave if they’ve been employed for at least 90 days with the same employer.
Employees with less than 90 days of employment may still be granted leave. However, their employers aren’t required under employment standards legislation to grant them leave.
Sick Leave Pay: Employers aren’t required to pay wages or benefits during long-term illness and injury leave, unless stated in an employment contract or collective agreement. The legislation entitles eligible employees to a period of leave without pay, at the end of which they must be reinstated in their same, or an equivalent, job.
Employees on long-term illness and injury leave are considered to be continuously employed for the purposes of calculating years of service.
Medical Certificate: The employee must provide a medical certificate to the employer that states the estimated duration of the leave. A medical certificate may be issued by a nurse practitioner or physician.
The medical certificate must be provided to the employer before the leave begins. If the employee is unable to do so, the certificate must be provided as soon as is reasonable.
Notice Requirement – Employees must give employers written notice as soon as is reasonable, which must include the estimated date of the employee’s return to work. The employee must inform their employer of any change in the estimated date of returning to work.
Employees must provide at least 1 week’s written notice of the date they intend to return to work unless there is an agreement otherwise. Employees must provide at least 2 weeks’ written notice of intention to terminate employment if they will not be returning to work after their leave ends.
Sick leave coinciding with Annual Leave: If an employee falls sick during their scheduled annual leave, they may convert their annual leave into sick leave after fulfilling medical certificate requirements.
The employee is required to provide a medical certificate to their employer as evidence of their illness. The medical certificate should indicate the period of sickness and the employee’s inability to take their annual leave as originally planned. Employment Standards Code,§ 53.97(1).
An employee is entitled to take pregnancy leave of up to 16 weeks of unpaid time off work. An employee can start the leave any time within the 13 weeks immediately before the estimated due date and no later than the date of birth.
Eligibility: Employees are eligible for maternity if they have been employed for at least 90 days with the same employer.
Employees on maternity or parental leave are considered to be continuously employed, for the purposes of calculating years of service.
An employee who takes maternity leave must take a period of leave of at least 6 weeks immediately following the date of delivery unless the employee and employer agree to shorten the period by giving the employer a medical certificate indicating that resumption of work will not endanger their health.
Pay– Employers aren’t required to pay wages or benefits during leave unless stated in an employment contract or collective agreement.
Notice of maternity leave – A pregnant employee must give their employer at least 6 weeks’ written notice of the date they will start maternity leave, and if so requested by their employer, the pregnant employee must provide their employer with a medical certificate certifying that employee is pregnant and giving the estimated date of delivery.
Pregnancy loss – A pregnancy loss is any situation where a pregnancy ends other than in a live birth. If pregnancy loss occurs within 16 weeks of the estimated due date, the employee is still entitled to maternity leave but is not entitled to parental leave. The leave will end 16 weeks after it begins. Employment Standards Code § 45 – 50 and Employment Standard Regulations § 54.3(a).
Employees are eligible for parental leave if they have been employed for at least 90 days with the same employer. Birth and adoptive parents can take up to 62 weeks of unpaid parental leave. Parental leave can be taken by:
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- the birth mother, immediately following maternity leave,
- The other parent,
- adoptive parents, or
- both parents shared between them.
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Leave can start any time after the birth or adoption of a child, but must be completed within 78 weeks of the date the baby is born or adopted by the parents.
Notice of parental leave – An employee must give their employer at least 6 weeks’ written notice of the date they will start maternity leave, and if so requested by their employer, the employee must provide their employer with a medical certificate. Employment Standards Code § 50 – 53 and Employment Standard Regulations § 54.3(b).
An employee who has been employed by the same employer for at least 90 days is entitled to unpaid compassionate care leave for a period of up to 27 weeks for the purpose of providing care or support to a seriously ill family member. If more than one employee who is employed by the same employer is entitled to compassionate care leave with respect to the same family member, the employer is not required to grant the leave to more than one employee at a time.
The leave shall begin from the day a medical certificate has been issued; or if the leave commenced prior to the issuance of the certificate, then the starting day of the leave.
The leave ends on the earliest of the following occurrences:
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- the last day of the workweek in which the family member dies;
- the 27 weeks of compassionate care leave ends; or
- the last day of the workweek in which the employee ceases to provide care or support to the seriously ill family member.
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The leave can be taken in one or more periods but no period shall be less than one week’s duration. Employment Standards Code,§ 53.9(1).
An employee who has been in continuous employment with the same employer for at least 90 days is entitled to unpaid leave up to 5 working days in a year until the extended leave is necessary for the health of the employee or for the employee to meet his or her family responsibilities in relation to a family member.
Notice Requirement: An employee must give an employer notice as soon as is reasonable before taking a leave. A medical certificate or other documentation is not required by legislation in order to take personal and family responsibility leave, however, the employers can establish their own policies for documentation. Any personal and family responsibility leave days that are not used by an employee do not have to be paid out by the employer if employment terminates. Employment Standards Code,§ 53.9832.
An employee who has been in continuous employment with the same employer for at least 90 days is entitled to unpaid leave for up to 3 days in case of the death of an immediate or extended family member. Bereavement leave can be taken after a pregnancy loss. A pregnancy loss is any situation where a pregnancy ends other than in a live birth.
Carry Over: Any leave days not used by an employee cannot be carried over into a new calendar year. Employment Standards Code,§ 53.983.
Employees who have been employed for at least 90 days with the same employer shall be entitled to unpaid leave for up to 10 working days, in cases where the employee, the employee’s dependent child, or a protected adult who resides with the employee is subject to domestic violence.
Carry Over: Any leave days not used by an employee cannot be carried over into a new calendar year.
Notice Requirement: An employee must give an employer notice as soon as is reasonable before taking a leave. Employment Standards Code,§ 53.981.
An employee who has been in continuous employment with the same employer for at least 90 days is entitled to unpaid leave for up to half a day to attend a citizenship ceremony. Employees are only eligible for the leave only when they have Canadian citizenship.
Carry Over – Any leave days not used by an employee cannot be carried over into a new calendar year.
Notice Requirement – An employee must give an employer notice as soon as is reasonable before taking a leave. Employment Standards Code,§ 53.984.
An employee who has been in continuous employment for at least 90 days and is a family member of a critically ill child is entitled to unpaid leave for up to 36 weeks to provide support and care to the child.
An employee who has been in continuous employment for at least 90 days and is a family member of a critically ill adult is entitled to unpaid leave for up to 16 weeks to provide support and care to the ill adult.
If more than one employee who is employed by the same employer is entitled to critical illness leave with respect to the same child/adult, the employer is not required to grant the leave to more than one employee at a time.
The leave ends on the earliest of the following occurrences:
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- the last day of the workweek in which the child or adult as the case may be, named in the medical certificate dies
- The period of 36 weeks ends in the case of a critically ill child or the period of 16 weeks ends in the case of a critically ill adult
- the expiry of the period mentioned in the medical certificate
- the last day of the workweek in which the employee ceases to provide care or support to the critically ill child or ill adult.
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The leave can be taken in one or more periods but no period shall be less than one week’s duration.
Medical certificate: An employee caring for their critically ill child or adult must furnish a medical certificate to their employer issued by a nurse practitioner or physician. The certificate must include:
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- that the child or adult is critically ill and requires the care or support of one or more family members,
- the start date of the period when care or support is needed,
- the end date of the period during which the child requires care or support, and
- if the leave started before the certificate was issued, the date the leave began.
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Employment Standards Code § 53.96 and Employment Standards Regulation, § 53.96.
An employee who has been in continuous employment with the same employer for at least 90 days and is entitled to 52 weeks and 104 weeks of unpaid leave in case of disappearance and death of his/her child respectively, in cases where the probable cause of such occurrence is a crime.
The leave shall begin on the day when the death or disappearance occurred and shall end 52 weeks after the day on which the disappearance occurred or 104 weeks after the day on which the death of the child occurred. In the case where the child disappeared has been found, the leave shall end on:
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- if found alive, 14 days after the day on which the child is found but no later than the end of the 52-week period, or
- if found dead, 104 weeks after the day on which the disappearance occurred.
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Notice Requirement: An employee must give an employer notice as soon as is reasonable before taking a leave. Employment Standards Code,§ 53.95.
An employee who has completed at least 12 consecutive weeks of employment with an employer and is a reservist is entitled to reservist leave without pay (no minimum or maximum duration) to take part in the following operations or activities:
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- Deployment to a Canadian Forces operation outside Canada;
- Deployment to a Canadian Forces operation inside Canada that is or will be providing assistance in dealing with an emergency or with its aftermath;
- Annual training, including related travel time.
- Any operation or activity set out.
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The duration of reservist leave is not required for consecutive days.
Notice Requirement: An employer may request proof that an employee is entitled to reservist leave. If requested, the employee must give the employer a document from the employee’s commanding officer that lists:
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- that the employee is taking part in an operation or activity that qualifies for reservist leave,
- the day on which the leave starts, and
- The estimated or known length of the leave.
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Employment Standards Code § 53.2.
An employee is eligible for 3 paid consecutive hours of break from work for the purpose of voting. However, employees are not required to provide such time off, if the voting hours are outside the normal working hours of an employee. Canada Elections Act, 134.
