Hospitality industry employees

This applies to you if you work in a hotel, motel, tourist resort, restaurant or tavern.

Special rules or exemptions

You are generally entitled to overtime pay for each hour worked over 44 hours in a work week. However, you are entitled to overtime pay for each hour worked over 50 hours in a work week if:

  • your employer provides you with room and board
  • you work no more than 24 weeks in a year, and
  • your employer is the owner or operator of the hotel, motel, tourist resort, restaurant or tavern

You may be required to work on public holidays if the public holiday is on a day that is normally a working day for you and you are not on vacation. If you must work on a public holiday, your employer can either:

  • pay you your regular rate for the hours you work on the public holiday and give you another day off with public holiday pay or
  • pay you public holiday pay and premium pay for the hours you work on the public holiday

You are not entitled to public holidays or public holiday pay if:

  • your employer provides you with room and board, and
  • you work no more than 16 weeks in a year

These special rules and exemptions are set out in O. Reg. 285/01 and the ESA.

Commissioned travelling salespersons

This does not apply to you if you are a route salesperson who works on a particular route.

This does apply to you if you are paid commission for sales made away from your employer’s office.

Special rules or exemptions

You are not entitled to:

  • minimum wage
  • daily or weekly limits on hours of work
  • daily rest periods
  • time off between shifts
  • weekly/bi-weekly rest periods
  • eating periods
  • overtime pay
  • public holidays or public holiday pay
  • vacation with pay

These exemptions are set out in O. Reg. 285/01.

Commissioned automobile salespersons

Special rules or exemptions

You are generally entitled to minimum wage.

Your pay period cannot be longer than one month. Your employer must pay you at least minimum wage for each pay period.

If your employer makes payments to you, your employer must reconcile the payments with the commissions you earned in each reconciliation period. This means your employer must review the payments and your commissions to make sure you are paid the correct amount for your wages earned in the period. Reconciliation periods are three months long and begin on January 1, April 1, July 1 and October 1 each year.

Balances cannot be carried forward to the next reconciliation. This means that if your employer owes you commission, your employer must pay you by the end of the reconciliation period.

If your employer overpaid you (for example, if your draw exceeded the total amount of commission you earned in the reconciliation period), you cannot carry this loss forward to the next reconciliation period. Your employer must pay you at least minimum wage even if you earned less than minimum wage in commissions.

These special rules are set out in O. Reg.285/01 .

Real estate salespersons and brokers

Special rules or exemptions

You are not entitled to:

  • minimum wage
  • daily or weekly limits on hours of work
  • daily rest periods
  • time off between shifts
  • weekly/bi-weekly rest periods
  • eating periods
  • overtime pay
  • public holidays or public holiday pay
  • vacation with pay

These exemptions are set out in O. Reg. 285/01.

Retail business employees

Special rules or exemptions

You are generally entitled to public holidays with public holiday pay. You can refuse to work on a public holiday even if you work in a retail business located in a hospital or in a continuous operation (a business that operates 24 hours a day and either never shuts down or shuts down no more than once a week).

Even if you agree to work on public holidays, you can later refuse to work on a public holiday if you give your employer at least 48 hours’ notice.

You cannot refuse to work on a public holiday or Sundays if you work in a retail operation where the primary business is to:

  • sell prepared meals
  • rent living accommodation
  • provide educational, recreational or amusement services, or
  • sell goods or services related to one of these businesses and is located at the same premises

You can refuse to work on Sundays if:

  • you were hired before September 3, 2001, or
  • you are refusing because of your religion

You cannot refuse to work on Sundays if:

  • you were hired after September 3, 2001, and
  • you agreed to work on Sundays when you were hired

You also cannot refuse to work on Sundays if you were hired before September 3, 2001, but you work at a business that:

  • sells prepared meals
  • rents living accommodation
  • proves educational, recreational or amusement services, or
  • sells goods or services related to one of these businesses and is located at the same premises.

These special rules are set out in O. Reg. 285/01.