British Columbia’s Employment Standards Act sets the legal minimums for wages, hours, overtime, breaks, statutory holidays, vacation, job-protected leaves, and termination for most people who work in the province. The general minimum wage is $18.25 per hour as of June 1, 2026.1Government of British Columbia. B.C.’s Minimum Wage Increases to $18.25, June 1 Part-time, temporary, and full-time employees are all covered, and the rules apply regardless of what a contract says, provided you are an employee rather than a genuine independent contractor.
Who Is Covered
If a business controls when, where, and how you do your work and provides your tools, you are almost certainly an employee for the purposes of the Act. The label on your contract does not decide the question.
A short list of regulated professions is excluded while the person is practising in that capacity: physicians, lawyers, architects, professional engineers, chartered professional accountants, chiropractors, dentists, veterinarians, optometrists, naturopathic doctors, land surveyors, licensed insurance agents, registered securities dealers, real estate licensees, and professional foresters.2Government of British Columbia. Professions and Occupations Excluded From the Act – Regulation Part 7, Section 31 The exemption only bites while the professional is doing that regulated work. A lawyer picking up weekend bartending shifts is covered by the Act for those hours.
Minimum Wage and Paydays
The $18.25 rate applies whether you are paid hourly, on salary, by commission, or on piece rate.3Government of British Columbia. Minimum Wage The province adjusts it each June based on the consumer price index.
If your employer schedules you and you show up, you must be paid for at least two hours even if you are sent home early. For shifts originally scheduled at more than eight hours, the minimum is four hours. When work stops for a reason completely outside the employer’s control, such as a power outage or extreme weather, the guarantee drops to two hours regardless of the scheduled length.4Government of British Columbia. Minimum Daily Hours – Act Part 4, Section 34
Wages must be paid at least twice per month, no later than eight calendar days after the pay period ends.5Government of British Columbia. Paydays – Act Part 3, Section 17 Every paycheque comes with a written wage statement showing the employer’s name and address, hours worked, regular and overtime rates, gross and net pay, and the amount and purpose of every deduction.6Government of British Columbia. Wage Statements – Act Part 3, Section 27 A stub missing any of those details is a violation.
Employers cannot pass business costs on through your wages. No charging for uniforms, no docking for accidental breakage, no clawing back the cost of a customer who walked out without paying. Lawful deductions are limited to those required by statute (income tax, EI premiums), those set by court order or collective agreement, and amounts you have specifically authorized in writing.
Hours of Work and Overtime
The standard workday is eight hours and the standard workweek is 40 hours, running Sunday through Saturday. Anything past those thresholds triggers overtime.7Province of British Columbia. Hours of Work and Overtime
Daily overtime pays time-and-a-half for hours nine through twelve in a single day, and double time for every hour after twelve.8Province of British Columbia. Overtime Pay Weekly overtime works separately: hours past 40 in a week are paid at time-and-a-half, but only the first eight hours of each day count toward the weekly total. Daily and weekly overtime do not stack, so hours already paid at daily overtime rates are excluded from the weekly calculation.
You cannot be required to work more than five consecutive hours without a meal break of at least 30 minutes.9Government of British Columbia. Meal Breaks – Act Part 4, Section 32 The break is unpaid by default. If your employer requires you to stay on-site or remain available during it, the entire 30 minutes counts as paid time. Any work performed during a scheduled meal break makes the whole break paid, not just the minutes actually worked.
Some industries use written averaging agreements to spread hours over one to four weeks, so overtime is calculated across the period rather than day by day.10Government of British Columbia. Averaging Agreements The agreement must be signed and given to you before the schedule starts, and you are still entitled to at least 32 consecutive hours free from work in each period.
Statutory Holidays
British Columbia recognizes 11 statutory holidays: New Year’s Day, Family Day, Good Friday, Victoria Day, Canada Day, B.C. Day, Labour Day, National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Thanksgiving Day, Remembrance Day, and Christmas Day.11Province of British Columbia. Statutory Holidays
To qualify for statutory holiday pay you must have been employed at least 30 calendar days and have worked or earned wages on 15 of the 30 days before the holiday.12Province of British Columbia. Qualify for Statutory Holiday Pay Holiday pay equals an average day’s pay: total wages in the previous 30 calendar days divided by the number of days worked in that period. Overtime is excluded from the calculation, but regular wages, commissions, and paid sick days all count.13Province of British Columbia. Calculate Statutory Holiday Pay
Annual Vacation
After one year with an employer you earn two weeks of vacation time and vacation pay equal to at least four percent of all wages earned in the previous year. After five years the entitlement rises to three weeks and six percent.14Province of British Columbia. Annual Vacation
The “all wages” figure is broader than many employees realize. It includes regular pay, salary, commissions, statutory holiday pay, paid vacation pay from the prior year, and paid sick days required by employment standards. If you work on commission, your employer cannot fold vacation pay into the commission rate. It must be calculated and paid separately on top.
Job-Protected Leaves
During any statutory leave, your employer cannot fire you or change a condition of your employment as retaliation for taking the time.
Sick Leave
After 90 consecutive days of employment you get five paid sick days per year for personal illness or injury, plus three additional unpaid sick days.15Government of British Columbia. Paid Sick Leave
Serious Illness or Injury Leave
As of November 27, 2025, employees unable to work for at least seven consecutive days because of a serious medical condition can take up to 27 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave within a 52-week period, with a certificate from a medical doctor or nurse practitioner.16Government of British Columbia. New Job-Protected Medical Leave in Effect for Workers Facing Serious Illness or Injury
Family Responsibility Leave
Up to five unpaid days per year to deal with the care, health, or education of a child in your care, or the health of any other immediate family member. Immediate family is defined broadly and includes your spouse, children, parents, guardians, siblings, grandchildren, grandparents, and anyone who lives with you as part of your family.17Government of British Columbia. Family Responsibility Leave – Act Part 6, Section 52
Bereavement Leave
Up to three days of unpaid leave when a member of your immediate family dies. The days do not need to be taken consecutively.18Government of British Columbia. Bereavement Leave – Act Part 6, Section 53
Compassionate Care Leave
Up to 27 weeks of unpaid leave in a 52-week period to care for a family member with a serious medical condition and a significant risk of death within 26 weeks. A medical certificate is required. If the family member survives beyond the initial period, a new certificate starts a fresh leave.19Government of British Columbia. Compassionate Care Leave – Act Part 6, Section 52.1
Critical Illness or Injury Leave
Up to 36 weeks of unpaid leave to care for a family member under 19 with a critical illness or injury, with a medical certificate.20Government of British Columbia. Critical Illness or Injury Leave – Act Part 6, Section 52.11
Pregnancy and Parental Leave
A pregnant employee can take up to 17 weeks of unpaid pregnancy leave. Either parent can then take up to 62 weeks of unpaid parental leave. The leaves themselves are unpaid under provincial law, but most employees qualify for federal Employment Insurance benefits during the time off, which partially replaces lost income.
Leave for Domestic or Sexual Violence
Employees who experience domestic or sexual violence, or whose children are affected, are entitled to five paid days, five unpaid days, and up to 15 additional weeks of unpaid leave per calendar year.21Government of British Columbia. Leave Respecting Domestic or Sexual Violence – Act Part 6, Section 52.5 The paid and unpaid days can be taken in smaller increments. The 15-week block must be taken all at once unless the employer agrees to split it.
Termination and Final Pay
When an employer ends your employment without cause, they must provide written notice, compensation in lieu, or a combination. The minimum scales with length of service:
- 3 months to 1 year: 1 week
- 1 to 3 years: 2 weeks
- 3 or more years: 3 weeks, plus 1 additional week for each year beyond three, to a maximum of 8 weeks
Those numbers come from the Act.22Province of British Columbia. Quitting or Getting Fired Many employees are also entitled to additional common-law reasonable notice, which can be significantly longer, but that is a separate framework enforced through the courts rather than the Employment Standards Branch.
An employer can dismiss without notice or compensation only for just cause. Serious offences like theft, fraud, dishonesty, assault, or harassment can qualify. Poor performance on its own does not. To rely on performance issues or minor misconduct such as habitual lateness, an employer must show they clearly communicated their standards, told the employee they were falling short, gave reasonable time and help to improve, warned that termination would follow if things did not change, and that the employee still failed to meet those standards. Most employer claims of just cause fall apart on the documentation.
When you are fired, all outstanding wages including vacation pay must be paid within 48 hours of your last day. If you quit, the employer has six days to issue the final payment. Missed deadlines are among the most common complaints filed with the Branch.
A temporary layoff can run up to 13 weeks within any 20-week period. If it stretches beyond that, the Branch may treat it as a termination, meaning compensation for length of service is owed.23Province of British Columbia. Temporary Layoffs You are considered laid off during any week you earn less than half of what you would normally earn in a regular work week, averaged over the previous eight weeks.
When 50 or more employees at a single location are terminated within a two-month period, extra written notice must go to each affected employee, the Minister of Labour, and any trade union. The extra notice ranges from 8 weeks (50 to 100 employees) to 16 weeks (301 or more) and is on top of each employee’s individual entitlement.24Government of British Columbia. Group Terminations – Act Part 8, Section 64
Filing a Complaint
Complaints can be filed with the Employment Standards Branch online at no cost. The Branch recommends trying to resolve the issue directly with the employer first, but that is not required.25Government of British Columbia. File an Employment Standards Complaint
If you still work for the employer, the Branch will look back up to one year from the date the complaint is received. If you no longer work there, you must file within six months of your last day, and the Branch will review issues from the final year of employment. Miss these deadlines and you lose the ability to recover wages through this process.
An investigator contacts both sides once a complaint is assigned. Many cases resolve by voluntary agreement. When they do not, the Director of Employment Standards issues a formal determination. Employers found in violation face mandatory administrative penalties on top of any wages ordered paid: $500 for a first contravention, $2,500 for a second violation of the same requirement at the same location within three years, and $10,000 for a third.26Government of British Columbia. Enforcement and Penalties