You are a young worker? You are a speaker to youth? Here you will find tools and information to better understand and make labor standards.Discover information capsules and examples of daily life at work, a quiz, interactive tools and more!

Frequently Asked Questions

Wages

Q: What is the minimum wage?
A: At the present time, the minimum wage is $8.50 an hour. For employees receiving tips, it is $7.75 an hour.

These rates may change. Find out more by visiting the web site at www.cnt.gouv.qc.ca or by calling the Commission des normes du travail at 1 800 265-1414.
 
Q: Do you have to be 18 to be entitled to the minimum wage?
A: No. The minimum age applies regardless of age.
 
Q: I often babysit children. Can I ask to be paid the minimum wage?
A: If you babysit children in an apartment or a house, you are not entitled to the minimum wage and you are not covered by the Act if your tasks entail meeting the immediate needs of a child such as changing diapers, giving the child his or her bottle, or cleaning up after the child.
 
Q: I have found a job as a vacation camp counselor for next summer. At my hiring interview, the director told me that I would be paid $6 an hour. My brother said that I should receive at least $8.50 an hour, namely the minimum wage. Is that true? 
A: The minimum wage does not apply to students employed in a social or community non-profit organization, such as a vacation camp or a recreational organization. If it is a non-profit vacation camp, you are not entitled to the minimum wage. Nor are you entitled to the payment of overtime at time and a half or the annual leave and the related 4% indemnity.

However, if you work for a profit-oriented vacation camp, you are entitled to the minimum wage.
 
Q: Does my boss have the right to pay me less on the pretext that I am working part-time?
A: No. An employer cannot pay an employee at a lower rate than that paid to the other employees performing the same tasks in the same establishment for the sole reason that the employee in question generally works fewer hours per week. However, an employee who earns more than twice the minimum wage is excluded from this provision.

Q : My sister went for an interview for a job in a restaurant. The boss offered her a wage that is less than the minimum wage on the pretext that she will have a discount on the meals that she eats at the restaurant. Is it legal?

A : No. It is illegal to pay an employee less than the minimum wage, even if the employee is in agreement.

Pay

Q: At the end of my shift, I was unable to get my cash register to balance. My boss asked me to make up the difference. Am I required to do so?
A: No, you are not required to make up the difference. Cash differences are considered operating expenses, namely expenses related to the operation of the undertaking. The Act respecting labour standards prohibits an employer from requiring from an employee a sum of money to pay expenses related to operations and the payroll taxes of the undertaking, whatever the wage.
 
Q: I have been working at a new job for three weeks now and I still have not received my pay. Is it normal?
A: Your employer has one month after you begin working to issue your first pay. Thereafter, he must issue your pays at regular intervals that cannot exceed 16 days.

He can pay you in cash in a sealed envelope, by cheque or by direct deposit if a collective agreement or a decree permits. If pay day falls on a statutory holiday, your wages must be paid on the preceding working day.

Q: My boss tried me out for a day before hiring me for good. He told me that he does not have to pay me for that day. Is he right?
A: No, he must pay you. The Act respecting labour standards stipulates that learning, training, induction or trial periods must be remunerated. An employee is deemed to be at work during any trial or training period required by the employer.

Q: This is my first job and I am going to receive my first pay. What do I need to know? 
A: At each pay, your employer must give you, at the same time as your wages, a sheet allowing you to calculate your wages. This pay sheet must notably contain the following items:

 

1. the employer’s name;
2. the employee’s name;
3. the identification of the job;
4. the date of the payment and the work period corresponding to the payment;
5. the number of hours paid at the prevailing rate;
6. the number of overtime hours paid or replaced with a leave, with the applicable rate;
7. the nature and amount of the premiums, indemnities, allowances or commissions paid;
8. the wage rate;
9. the amount of the gross wages;
10. the nature and the amount of the deductions made;
11. the amount of the net wages that the employee receives;
12. the amount of the tips that the employee reported or that the employer attributed to him (hotel and restaurant industry).

Consult the interactive web site of the Commission des normes du travail at www.cnt.gouv.qc.ca. After answering a quiz, you will obtain a sample personalized pay sheet. It will include the elements that should appear on your pay sheet according to your situation.
Consulte le bulletin de paye interactif dans le site www.cnt.gouv.qc.ca de la Commission des normes du travail. Après avoir répondu à un questionnaire, tu obtiendras un exemple de bulletin de paye personnalisé. Il comprendra les éléments qui devraient figurer dans ton bulletin de paye selon ta situation.
 

Statutory holidays

Q: I worked on July 1st this summer. What pay am I entitled to?
A: In addition to your usual wages, you must receive financial compensation (indemnity) or a paid compensatory leave of one day. This compensatory leave must be taken in the three weeks preceding or following the statutory holiday. The indemnity for a statutory holiday is equal to 1/20th of the wages earned during the four complete weeks of pay preceding the week of the holiday, excluding overtime. In the case of an employee who receives tips, the amount of the reported or attributed tips must be taken into account in the calculation of the indemnity.

Overtime

Q: How must overtime be paid? 
A: Barring a few exceptions, the regular work week is 40 hours. If you work beyond that period, you are working overtime. Overtime entails a 50% premium in addition to your usual wage (time and a half).

Your employer cannot compensate your overtime hours with a leave unless you are the one who requests it. This leave must be of an equivalent duration to the overtime hours worked, increased by 50%. However, the employer has the final say as to whether or not he will grant your request. If he agrees to it, you must take your leave in the 12 months following the overtime worked and at a date agreed upon with your employer.

Work uniform

Q: Can my boss require that I purchase and wear clothing sold in the store where I work?
A: No. An employer cannot require that an employee purchase clothing or accessories that are in the employer’s trade.
 
Q: Philip, my best friend’s boyfriend, is about to begin working as a waiter in a restaurant. He will be paid the minimum wage. The boss told Philip that the cost of the work uniform that he has to wear will be deducted from his wages. Can Philip contest this decision?
A: Yes. When an employer requires the wearing of special clothing, he must supply it free of charge to an employee who is paid at the minimum wage. If this special clothing identifies the person as an employee of his establishment (e.g.: clothing with a logo), the employer must also provide it to the employee free of charge.

Work schedule

Q: My boss tried me out for a day before hiring me for good. He told me that he does not have to pay me for that day. Is he right?
A: No, he must pay you. The Act respecting labour standards stipulates that learning, training, induction or trial periods must be remunerated. An employee is deemed to be at work during any trial or training period required by the employer.

Q: The owner of the store where my girlfriend works asks employees to pass the vacuum or stock merchandise before customers arrive. He claims that he is not required to pay employees for these tasks because the store is not open yet. Is he right?
A: No, all hours worked must be remunerated even those done prior to the arrival of customers.

Q: My boss asked me to report to work but after one hour sent me home because there was no work. Am I entitled to remuneration?
A: Yes, you are entitled to a minimum indemnity of three hours. Indeed, the Act stipulates that an employee who reports to work at the express request of his employer or during the normal course of his employment and who works fewer than three consecutive hours is entitled to an indemnity equal to three hours at his usual wage rate, increased by tips, where applicable.

However, there are exceptions:

• when a case of Superior force (fire) occurs,
• when an employee is hired for periods of less than three hours (school bus driver),
• when the daily duration of the work is planned for less than three hours due to the nature of the work or the conditions under which it is carried out (school custodian).