For an Alberta employee who is receiving weekly indemnity or short-term illness benefits, a general holiday may still create a separate entitlement under Alberta Employment Standards. If the holiday falls on what would normally be a regular workday and the employee otherwise qualifies for general holiday pay, the medical absence itself does not automatically remove that entitlement.
However, whether the employee receives general holiday pay from the employer instead of the weekly indemnity benefit for that day will usually depend on the wording of the weekly indemnity or STD plan. Many plans include coordination or offset provisions so that an employee does not receive both full disability benefits and full wages for the same day.
The safest approach is to confirm the employee’s eligibility for Alberta general holiday pay, calculate the required holiday entitlement, and then review the benefit plan for any provisions dealing with statutory holidays, employer-paid wages, or offsets. The employee should receive at least their minimum statutory entitlement, but you should avoid automatically paying both benefits without checking the plan.
If the plan is insurer-administered, I would also confirm the insurer’s treatment of general holidays during a disability period, as the insurer may expect that day to be excluded from the weekly indemnity payment if the employer is paying general holiday pay.
-HRInsider Staff
