As many of you know, the Government of Ontario introduced
a new formula for calculating public holiday pay effective January
1, 2018. This was one of the many changes made to the
Employment Standards Act, 2000 under The Fair
Workplaces, Better Jobs Act ("Bill 148"). The new
formula took the regular wages earned by the employee (before taxes
and statutory deductions) in the pay period immediately prior to
the public holiday and divided it by the number of days the
employee actually worked to earn those wages.
This new formula created considerable controversy as it resulted
in a significant increase in public holiday pay for part-time and
other casual employees. For example, under the new formula, an
employee who worked two (2) days and earned $200 in regular wages
($100 per day) in the pay period prior to the public holiday is
entitled to the same amount of public holiday pay as an employee
who worked ten (10) days and earned $1,000 in regular wages ($100
per day)
