Stat Schedule

[Mali Singh]

#97529

Forum: Private

We have a head office in Ontario and a non-public facing smaller satellite office in Manitoba. Informally (without a signed agreement) our Manitoba staff have been following the Ontario stat schedule as we offer more days anyway. However, we recently had some issues with remembrance day. Manitoba has very specific requirements for those working on remembrance day (1 1/2 times pay and not being allowed to sub that day for another).

As its not a stat, I am thinking the MB staff following the Ontario stat schedule would not have an impact and we would not be allowed to not apply the employment standards of their home province? Moving forward, if we did not want to pay additional time for this day- would it make sense to provide it as a day off for only MB staff or all staff?

[Mali Singh]

#97530

What woould be the best way to align the stats for both provinces? For example, ON has boxing day off and we close operations on this day and want the MB staff to be off on this day as well.

[Haley O’Halloran]

#97537

Employees must receive at least the minimum statutory entitlements of the province in which they work—no exceptions.
Even if you informally follow a different province’s holiday schedule, you cannot contract out of Employment Standards.

So yes — Manitoba employees must follow Manitoba requirements for Remembrance Day, regardless of what Ontario does.

Part 1: Why Remembrance Day is Causing Issues
Ontario

-Not a statutory holiday.
-Businesses may close or stay open freely.

Manitoba

-Not a general statutory holiday, but it is a “Restricted Holiday.”
-Retail businesses have specific rules, but all employees who work must receive 1.5× regular pay.
-The day cannot be substituted for another day off.

This means:
If your Manitoba employees work on Nov 11, you must pay 1.5×.
If they don’t work, you are not required to pay them (unless your internal policy grants the day as paid).

Can MB staff simply follow the Ontario stat schedule?

Yes and no.

You can offer additional paid holidays, beyond Manitoba’s minimums.

Example:

Give Boxing Day as a paid holiday even though MB doesn’t require it.

This is legal and common.

You cannot use the Ontario schedule to remove or override any Manitoba minimum entitlement.

Example:

You cannot avoid the 1.5× pay requirement on Nov 11 by saying “we follow Ontario holidays.”

How to handle Remembrance Day if you don’t want to pay 1.5×

You have two legal options:

Option A — Do not schedule MB staff on Nov 11

If they don’t work, you owe no premium pay.

They can either have:

-Unpaid day off (minimum standard), or
-Paid day off (your choice as an enhanced benefit).

Option B — Keep operations open but pay the 1.5× premium

-Must pay 1.5× for all hours worked.
-The day cannot be substituted.

Should the day off apply only to MB staff or to all staff?

This depends on consistency, equity, and operations.

Acceptable:

-Give only MB staff Nov 11 off (paid or unpaid), since it’s a provincial requirement.
-Make Nov 11 a company-wide paid day of observance.

Many national Canadian employers choose the second option to avoid confusion.

Pros of company-wide:

-Avoids perception of unequal benefits
-Simplifies communication
-Aligns values & culture around remembrance

How to Align the Holiday Schedule Across Both Provinces

You have two realistic models:

Model A — “Core Holiday Schedule + Local Add-Ons” (Most common for multi-province employers)
Core Company Holidays (apply to ALL staff)

Ex:

-New Year’s Day
-Family Day
-Good Friday
-Canada Day
-Labour Day
-Thanksgiving
-Christmas Day
-Boxing Day
-(Optional) National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
-(Optional) Remembrance Day – paid day of observance

Local Add-Ons

-Manitoba Day (if relevant)
-Ontario Civic Holiday

This maintains fairness while respecting provincial minimums.

Model B — “Provincial Stat Minimums + Extra Company Holidays”

You formally state:

“All employees receive the statutory holidays required by their province of employment, plus the following company-wide paid holidays…”

For example:

-Add Boxing Day as a universal paid holiday (solves your current desire)
-Choose whether to add Remembrance Day as a company-wide paid holiday

This model keeps compliance simple and avoids accidentally breaching ESA rules.

Recommendations Based on Your Situation
Create a formal written policy (your current informal practice creates risk)

Include:
-Provincial compliance obligation
-List of company-wide holidays
-Clarification of location-based differences

Give MB staff Nov 11 off — at least unpaid, or paid if you want consistency
-This fully avoids the 1.5× issue.

Continue to give Boxing Day to all staff as a company holiday
-This is already working operationally and is allowed.

Present a unified annual holiday calendar to all employees
-Avoids confusion about which province gets what.

I hope this helps!
-HRInsider Staff

[Author]

Posts