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Louis Riel Day: Understanding Manitoba General Holidays

Louis Riel Day falls on Monday, February 21st this year. Here's what you need to know:

How do you calculate general holiday pay?

General holiday pay amounts to 5% of an employee’s total wages in the four-week period falling immediately before the holiday. Overtime should not be included in these calculations.

  • For a part-time employee, this will be a calculation of their hours worked over the previous four weeks multiplied by 5% -  this will differ for each employee schedule.
  • For a full-time employee who works the same number of hours every week, the 5% calculation will equal his/her regular day of pay.

For those in the contruction industry, the legislation is different. Please visit the Province of Manitoba's Contruction Industry Fact Sheet to learn more.

 What if employees work on the general holiday?

Employees who work on a general holiday are normally entitled to 1 ½ times their regular rate of pay for the hours worked. This is in addition to their general holiday pay. There is an exception for employers operating a gas station, hospital, hotel, restaurant, place of amusement, continuously operating plant, or a seasonal industry (excluding construction) or those employing domestic workers.

In these cases, employers can pay regular wages for work on the holiday as long as they provide another day off with general holiday pay in next 30 days and both the employers and employees agree. This day off may be taken sometime before the employees' next annual vacation.

Do you have to work a minimum number of hours to qualify?

Although there is no probationary period or minimum hours worked required to receive holiday pay, there are circumstances where employees will not qualify. This occurs when:

  • An employee is absent from work on a general holiday when he/she is scheduled to work.
  • An employee is absent from work, without permission, on his/her last scheduled workday before the holiday, or on his/her first scheduled workday after the holiday, unless the absence is due to illness.

Are businesses open on Louis Riel Day?

On Louis Riel Day Sunday shopping rules apply. This means that in communities that allow Sunday shopping, stores can remain open from noon to 6 p.m.


For more information regarding general holiday pay in Manitoba, please visit the province of Manitoba's labour standards website:

http://www.gov.mb.ca/labour/standards/

** Please also see the IBEX News section for other holiday/payroll related announcements.



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