Great question! Let’s break this down carefully since vacation entitlement for part-time employees can be confusing. I’ll base this on employment standards in Canada (which set the minimum requirements), then explain how it applies in practice.

Vacation Entitlement Basics

Time-based entitlement: Employees earn a minimum of 2 weeks’ vacation after 12 months of employment. In many provinces, this increases to 3 weeks after 5 years.

Percentage-based entitlement: Instead of granting hours or days, employers may pay out vacation pay as a percentage of wages. The minimum is 4% (often 6% after 5 years). Some employers offer more as a benefit.

Since you’re paying 6% vacation accrual on each cheque, you’re already meeting (and likely exceeding) the legal minimum for a new part-time employee.

Do They Also Get 120 Hours of Vacation?

The 120 hours is a full-time equivalent calculation (3 weeks × 40 hours/week).

A part-time employee working 18 hours per week does not automatically get 120 hours. Vacation is pro-rated according to their average weekly hours.

For your PTE (18 hrs/week average):

3 weeks entitlement = 3 × 18 = 54 hours of vacation per year, not 120.

Percentage vs. Time Off

You don’t usually apply both systems. You either:

Track vacation pay only (percentage of wages, paid out each cheque), or

Track time off (e.g., 3 weeks pro-rated hours off, with pay when taken).

Since you’re already paying 6% vacation pay on each cheque, that covers their entitlement. They wouldn’t also earn separate “banked vacation hours” unless your policy grants it as an extra benefit.

Best Practice

Legally: Paying out 6% vacation pay on each paycheque is enough; they don’t additionally get 120 hours of paid vacation.

If you want to provide time off as well: Calculate it as 3/52 of average weekly hours worked (about 54 hours/year for your employee).

Answer: Your part-time employee does not get 120 hours of vacation. Since you’re paying 6% of earnings on each paycheque, their vacation entitlement is satisfied in cash. If you also allow unpaid vacation time off, calculate their paid hours as 3/52 × average weekly hours (≈54 hrs for 18 hrs/week).

-HRInsider Staff