British Columbia’s labour laws are set mainly by the provincial Employment Standards Act, which establishes the minimum rules employers must follow on wages, hours, overtime, breaks, statutory holidays, vacation, job-protected leaves, and termination. As of June 1, 2026, the general minimum wage is $18.25 per hour.1Government of British Columbia. Minimum Wage If your employer falls short of any standard in the Act, you can file a complaint with the Employment Standards Branch, which has the power to issue binding payment orders.
Who the Act Covers
The Act applies to most provincially regulated workplaces in B.C. You qualify as an employee if you receive or are entitled to wages for work, if an employer allows you to do work normally done by an employee, if you are being trained for the employer’s business, or if you are on leave or hold recall rights.2King’s Printer, British Columbia. Employment Standards Act A written contract is not required.
Workers in federally regulated industries fall outside the Act. That covers aviation, telecommunications, banking, interprovincial transportation, and other sectors governed by the Canada Labour Code. Independent contractors running their own businesses are also excluded, though the Branch looks at the real nature of the relationship rather than the label on a contract.
A number of licensed professionals are also carved out while practising their regulated profession, including lawyers, accountants, doctors, dentists, engineers, architects, real estate agents, and others.3Province of British Columbia. Professions and Occupations Excluded from the Act – Regulation Part 7, Section 31 The exclusion only applies to work done in that regulated capacity. Separate rules also govern the hiring and supervision of workers under 16.4Province of British Columbia. Hiring Young People
Minimum Wage and When You Must Be Paid
The general minimum wage in B.C. is $18.25 per hour as of June 1, 2026. Online platform workers such as ride-share and delivery app workers have a separate engaged-time minimum of $21.89 per hour, and live-in camp leaders, home support workers, and resident caretakers have their own rate structures based on daily or monthly calculations.1Government of British Columbia. Minimum Wage
Wages have to be paid at least twice a month. No pay period can run longer than 16 calendar days, and the wages earned in a period must be delivered within eight calendar days after it ends.5Province of British Columbia. Paydays – Act Part 3, Section 17 A monthly payroll or a longer pay period violates the Act no matter what your contract says.
Overtime, Breaks, and Show-Up Pay
Overtime in B.C. runs on two tracks. On a daily basis, you earn time-and-a-half for every hour past eight in a day and double time for every hour past 12. On a weekly basis, you earn time-and-a-half for every hour past 40 in a week, with hours already paid at a daily overtime rate taken out of the weekly calculation so you are not counted twice.6Government of British Columbia. Hours of Work and Overtime
Employers and employees can sign a written agreement to average hours over one, two, three, or four weeks. Under an averaging agreement, daily overtime only kicks in when you work past the hours scheduled for that day (or past eight hours if fewer were scheduled), double time still applies past 12 hours in any single day, and the weekly overtime calculation is done on the average across the agreed period.7Province of British Columbia. Agreements to Average Hours of Work – Act Part 4, Section 37 These agreements must be voluntary. If you are pressured into one to wipe out overtime you would otherwise earn, the Branch can set it aside.
You cannot be required to work more than five consecutive hours without a 30-minute meal break. If your employer requires you to stay available or keep working through that break, the full 30 minutes counts as paid work time.8Province of British Columbia. Meal Breaks – Act Part 4, Section 32 Two coffee breaks do not substitute for the continuous 30-minute meal break.
If your employer calls you in and then sends you home early, or has no work for you, you are owed at least two hours at your regular wage. If you were originally scheduled for more than eight hours, the minimum rises to four hours of pay. The exception is if you are unfit to work or the shutdown is caused by something completely outside the employer’s control, like severe weather, in which case the minimum drops back to two hours.9Province of British Columbia. Minimum Daily Hours – Act Part 4, Section 34
Statutory Holidays
B.C. recognizes 11 statutory holidays: New Year’s Day, Family Day, Good Friday, Victoria Day, Canada Day, B.C. Day, Labour Day, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Thanksgiving Day, Remembrance Day, and Christmas Day.
You qualify for statutory holiday pay if you have been employed at least 30 calendar days and worked or earned wages on at least 15 of the 30 days before the holiday.10Government of British Columbia. Qualify for Statutory Holiday Pay Paid vacation days and other paid statutory holidays count toward the 15 days.
If you qualify and do not work the holiday, your pay is your total wages (excluding overtime) in the 30 calendar days before the holiday divided by the number of days you worked in that period. If you do work the holiday, you get time-and-a-half for your hours, with double time past 12 hours, on top of your average day’s pay.11Province of British Columbia. Calculate Statutory Holiday Pay
Vacation
After 12 months with the same employer, you are entitled to two weeks of annual vacation, with vacation pay of at least four percent of all wages earned in the previous year. Once you reach five consecutive years, the entitlement rises to three weeks of vacation and at least six percent vacation pay.12Province of British Columbia. Annual Vacation Vacation pay accrues on all wages, including commissions and bonuses, so an employer cannot calculate it on base salary alone.
Job-Protected Leaves
Your employer cannot fire or penalize you for taking any leave you are entitled to under the Act. Some are paid, most are unpaid, and eligibility varies.
Paid sick leave. You are entitled to five paid sick days a year for personal illness or injury after 90 consecutive days with the employer. Full-time, part-time, and casual employees all qualify, and your employer pays your regular wages for each day used.13Province of British Columbia. Paid Sick Leave Reasonable proof of illness can only be requested when you miss three or more consecutive days. Unused days are not paid out when employment ends.
Maternity and parental leave. A birthing parent is entitled to up to 17 consecutive weeks of unpaid maternity leave. Parental leave is available regardless of length of service: a birthing parent who has taken maternity leave can take up to 61 consecutive weeks immediately after, and a non-birthing or adopting parent can take up to 62 consecutive weeks starting within 78 weeks of the child’s birth or placement.14Province of British Columbia. Parental Leave – Act Part 6, Section 51 The combined maximum of maternity and parental leave is 78 weeks, with an additional five weeks available if the child has a condition requiring extended care. These leaves are unpaid under the provincial Act, but most employees qualify for federal Employment Insurance benefits during the leave.
Compassionate care leave. If a family member is terminally ill, you can take up to 27 weeks of unpaid leave within a 52-week period. You need a medical certificate stating a serious condition with a risk of death within 26 weeks, but you do not have to hold the certificate before starting the leave.15Province of British Columbia. Leaves of Absence
Bereavement leave. Up to three unpaid days when an immediate family member dies. The days do not have to be taken consecutively or tied to a funeral.15Province of British Columbia. Leaves of Absence
Serious personal illness or injury leave. Up to 27 weeks of unpaid leave within a 52-week period for your own serious illness or injury. Leave must be taken in units of at least one week, and any partial week counts as a full week toward the total.
Termination, Final Pay, and Layoffs
When an employer ends your employment, the minimum notice or pay in lieu depends on your length of service:
- 3 months to 12 months: one week of notice or pay.
- 12 months to 3 years: two weeks of notice or pay.
- 3 years or more: three weeks of notice or pay, plus one additional week for each year past three, to a maximum of eight weeks.
The employer can give working notice, pay in lieu, or a combination.16Province of British Columbia. Liability Resulting from Length of Service – Act Part 8, Section 63 These are only the statutory minimums. Common law may entitle you to significantly longer reasonable notice, which is one reason many employees consult a lawyer before signing a severance package.
No notice or pay is required if you have worked fewer than three consecutive months, or if the employer has just cause for dismissal. Just cause is a high bar. It generally requires serious misconduct such as dishonesty, insubordination, or conduct that fundamentally breaks the employment relationship. Poor performance on its own rarely qualifies.
When the employer ends the employment, all outstanding wages must be paid within 48 hours of your last day of work. When you quit, the employer has six days to pay everything owed.17Province of British Columbia. Quitting or Getting Fired Outstanding wages include regular pay, overtime, vacation pay, and statutory holiday pay, not just the final paycheque.
An employer can temporarily lay you off for up to 13 weeks in any 20-week period. You are considered laid off if your earnings fall below 50 percent of your regular weekly wages, averaged over the previous eight weeks worked.18Province of British Columbia. Temporary Layoffs If a layoff runs past 13 weeks in a 20-week window, the Branch may treat it as a termination, with your termination date deemed to be the first day of the layoff. Employers can apply for a variance to extend a layoff, but only with the agreement of a majority of affected workers.
Filing a Complaint
If your employer has shorted your pay, denied overtime, refused vacation, or violated any other standard, you can file a complaint with the Employment Standards Branch. The deadline matters. If your employment has ended, you have only six months from your last day of work to file. While still employed, you can file at any time, but the Branch can only recover wages owed in the 12 months before you filed.
The Branch asks you to try resolving the dispute with your employer first.19Province of British Columbia. File an Employment Standards Complaint Gather your pay stubs, a log of hours worked, any written messages about the dispute, and the specific dollar amount you believe is owed. Keep your own copies: employers are only required to retain payroll records for two years after employment ends, and your case is harder to prove if the records are gone.
Complaints are submitted online. Once assigned to an investigator, both you and your employer are contacted to gather details and talk through the relevant provisions. Many complaints resolve at that stage. If voluntary resolution fails, the Branch can schedule mediation or an adjudication hearing where both sides present evidence. The Branch then issues a determination, a written decision that functions like a court order and can require the employer to pay wages, interest, and administrative penalties. Employers who ignore a determination can face collection proceedings.