Millions of Canadians on a fixed annual salary work an extra day without pay during leap years, as is the case this year. The average wage worker is deprived of about $351 that day, while employers collectively save more than $2 billion.
Rohith Krishnan, a tax partner in Toronto, believes every day was a success He must pay
including the rare February 29th that occurs once every four years.
Our spending doesn't stop on that day. We still have to eat, move and many other things
Confirms.
Rohith Krishnan works as a tax associate in Toronto. He believes that the extra working day should be paid during leap years.
Photo: Radio-Canada/Jason Trout
According to him, the federal government and provinces should step in and force employers to pay their employees for this extra day. Currently, there is no law to this effect.
We really need to put something in place to correct what has happened for so many years.
“, says the Toronto employee.
is she Wage theft
?
This practice, which often goes unnoticed, exacerbates the affliction Wage theft
“, says Ella Bedard, attorney at Labor Centeran organization that defends the rights of workers in precarious jobs.
This phenomenon can take several forms: An employer deciding not to pay overtime or public holidays or not to pay all hours worked, such as during leap years.
Ella Bedard is a lawyer at the Labor Action Centre, a labor rights organization in Toronto.
Photo: Radio-Canada/Hugo Levesque
If you get an annuity, you get the same amount regardless of whether the year is 365 days or 366 days
Says.
The lawyer fears that many employees will end up underpaid if they take into account all of their hours worked.
It's a real crisis in Canada and people feel it even more when the cost of living is this high. Every dollar counts.
According to the latest data released by Statistics Canada (A new window)There were more than 6.5 million employees in the country last November, representing more than a third of all Canadian workers. Taking overtime into account, these employees earned the equivalent of $43.88 per hour on average.
On a typical eight-hour day, each employee is deprived of about $351 on average for this extra day.
Meanwhile, employers will save approximately $2.3 billion during leap years.
Estimated compensation?
Some employers offer a discretionary bonus or some compensation in the employment contract for this extra day, but this is very rare, confirms human resources specialist Annie Bouillard.
It is always the employer's choice. Those who do are rather generous because the trend, I would say, is not in that sense.
Says.
It's true that we feel like we're doing a day of volunteer work. In contrast, our car payments don't cost more in February during a leap year. Our rent doesn't cost us more either. So part of the entire ecosystem works this way.
Annie Boulard, HR Specialist and President of the Annie RH Network
Photo: Radio-Canada/Yannick Cournoyer
Ms. Boilard confirms that no country has adopted a law regulating wages during leap years, and that no province is considering making changes in this regard.
If we do this, one can say that we will be an innovator, a leader in this field, but one thing is certain, we will also be an outsider.
Says.
In Toronto's financial district, many employees don't worry about their paychecks during leap years. I'm an accountant, so a quarter day a year, nothing
“, says Ian Reid.
Portfolio manager Sarah Loriot points out that she rarely works the number of hours stipulated in her contract. The important thing for the business owner is that she achieves results and achieves her goals.
Whether it's 9am to 5pm, 8am to 4pm, 365 days a year or 366 days a year, what matters is what I produce
Says.
Different payment models
There are of course many different payment models across the country. Some employees are paid by the hour, and this is particularly the case for most public sector employees.
These workers will be paid for hours worked on February 29, like any other workday. According to Statistics Canada, more than 11 million hourly employees were paid last November.
For the 6.5 million employees who receive a fixed annual sum, there is little difference between those who are paid every two weeks (biweekly pay) and those who are paid twice a month (biweekly pay), confirms lawyer Ella Bedard.
If you have two pay days each month, you obviously won't see the extra work day added to your pay stub this month. Your fixed salary is divided into 24 paychecks, and you get the same amount whether the month has 28, 29, 30, or 31 days.
There are many payment models in Canada. Employees may be paid biweekly or twice a month, among other things, while some employees are paid hourly.
Photo: Shutterstock/Suriporn Terasatyan
This is not as clear for employees who are paid biweekly, especially since February 29 falls on a weekday this year, which was not the case in 2020. These employees receive the same amount for the same number of working days.
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But the fact remains that, over the course of the entire year, they will still have worked one more day (or even two days) than in non-leap years, depending on the weekends. In several provinces, including Ontario and British Columbia, the calendar includes 252 working days in 2024, excluding public holidays, while there were 250 working days last year.
Sometimes, even without a leap year, there can be differences in the number of working days from year to year, as was the case between 2021 and 2022, or between 2017 and 2018, in these same provinces.
It is also possible to move from a non-leap year to a leap year – or vice versa – without changing the number of working days. In 2015, for example, the calendar had 251 working days, just like 2016, which is a leap year.
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