The third Monday of every February, the statutory holiday everyone looks forward to, the break up between New Years and Easter – Family day.
It is a debatable holiday for many provinces; it is not a federally established holiday, only being recognized in Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Saskatchewan, and only just recently B.C. It is 1 of the 9 public holidays covered by the Employment Standards Act (ESA) but who is eligible to take off Family Day?
Most employees will be eligible to take advantage of this holiday. Following the guidelines of the ESA, if a public holiday falls on a day that would ordinarily be a working day; and the employee is not on vacation he/she is entitled to the day off and to be paid holiday pay. Given that, an employee may not be entitled if he/she failed (without reasonable cause) to work all his/her last regularly scheduled day of work before Family day, or his/her first regularly scheduled day of work after Family day.
Eligible employees can be full time, part time, permanent or contract. Eligibility does not depend on the employee’s hire date or how many days they worked before the public holiday, but do keep in mind that this can affect the amount of their holiday pay.
Since most grocery stores, malls, banks, LCBO and beer stores will be closed. Take the time to connect with your community, find out what tourist attractions are available for you and your family to experience. Enjoy your time, get out and embrace winter!
Visit the Ministry of Labour website for details on Family Day and other public statutory holidays.
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