Campaign focuses on public holidays, vacations, tips
The Quebec government has launched a province-wide campaign to raise awareness about the Labour Standards Act, aiming to educate both employers and employees on key issues.
The campaign focuses on topics such as public holidays, vacation entitlements, and tips.
It includes traditional and digital radio spots, complemented by web and social media posts, as well as articles in various media outlets, to reach key stakeholders in the workplace.
Employment laws in Quebec are are rooted in French civil law and governed by the Civil Code of Quebec (CCQ), meaning that many aspects of the employment relationship are handled à la française—a little differently from the English common law system used in the rest of the country, some experts have previously noted.
Public holidays, vacation days, tips
Public holidays are typically non-working days, and employees are entitled to paid leave on these occasions. The Quebec government notes that if an employee is required to work on a public holiday, they must receive paid leave within three weeks before or after the holiday, or be given public holiday compensation in addition to their regular salary for the day worked. Different rules apply for national holidays.
Meanwhile, vacation entitlements are based on the number of years of continuous service with the same employer at the end of the reference year. Employees with less than one year of service are entitled to one day of vacation per full month of service, up to a maximum of two weeks. Those with one to less than three years of service receive two weeks, while employees with three years or more are entitled to three weeks.
Vacation pay is calculated at 4 per cent of gross salary for those with less than three years of service, and 6 per cent for those with three years or more.
The Quebec government also reminds employers that tips belong to the employee who provided the service, regardless of their salary or the type of service provided. Tip-sharing agreements may be established among workers, but employers are not permitted to keep tips or impose tip-sharing arrangements.
The campaign will run until Oct. 5, 2025.
With Quebec’s Law 14 taking effect earlier this year, many businesses in the province report seeing benefits in hiring French-speaking candidates, according to a previous report.
Meanwhile, also earlier this year, a labour group in Quebec launched a boycott campaign against Amazon following the American multinational technology company’s announcemnet of job cuts.
