Alberta’s Employment Standards Code sets out minimum standards employers must follow about minimum wage, minimum hours of work, overtime hours and pay, and more.
Alberta’s Employment Standards Code (the Code) sets out the minimum standards that employers must provide to employees in Alberta. There are rules for all sorts of working conditions, including hours of work, compensation, vacation entitlement, general holidays and job-protected leaves. There are also rules for the termination of employment.
Knowing your rights as an employee is important for several reasons. One of those reasons is to ensure that you receive all the pay you are entitled to. This article will review a few of Alberta’s minimum employee compensation rules.
Minimum Wage
Minimum wage is the lowest amount an employer can pay an employee per hour of work. A regulation under the Code provides that Alberta’s basic minimum wage for adult employees is $15.00 per hour.
Three-Hour Minimum
Occasionally, an employer will send an employee home before the end of their scheduled shift for some reason beyond the employee’s control. For example, an employer might send an employee home because business is slow or an expected shipment did not arrive. A special rule applies in those situations.
A regulation under the Code says an employee who works less than 3 consecutive hours must be paid for 3 hours of work at no less than the minimum wage to which they are entitled. This is commonly called the “3-hour rule”.
When it applies, the 3-hour rule requires an employer to pay an employee the greater of:
- three hours at the applicable minimum wage, or
- their regular wage for the time they worked.
Consider this example:
Sarah is 20 years old (an adult). She works as a cashier at a retail store and is paid $17 per hour. Last Thursday, Sarah was scheduled to work from 10:00AM until 6:00PM. Business was slow that day, so Sarah’s employer sent her home from work at noon.
Applying the 3-hour rule, Sarah is entitled to be paid $45 for the time she worked last Thursday. $45 is three hours at the minimum wage for adults ($15 per hour x 3 hours = $45). Sarah has the right to that amount because it is greater than $34, her regular wage for two hours of work ($17 per hour x 2 hours = $34).
Overtime Hours and Overtime Pay
The Code also provides that employers must pay their employees overtime pay for the overtime hours they work.
Section 21 says an employee’s overtime hours are the greater of:
- the total of an employee’s hours of work over 8 hours on each workday in the work week, or
- an employee’s hours of work over 44 hours in the work week.
This rule is commonly called the “8/44 rule”.
Consider these examples:
Ivan works as a security guard on the weekends. He works a 12-hour shift on Saturday and another 12-hour shift on Sunday. Ivan’s wage rate is $23 per hour.
Applying the 8/44 rule, Ivan works 8 hours of overtime each week. That is the number of hours he works over 8 hours on each workday during the week. It is the only relevant number because Ivan never works more than 44 hours in a work week.
| Day | Mon. | Tues. | Wed. | Thurs. | Fri. | Sat. | Sun. | Weekly Total |
| Hours Worked | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 12 | 24 |
| Hours Over 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 8 |
Anisha works as an administrative assistant, earning $21 per hour. Her office was very busy last week. Anisha worked 10 hours on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, 11 hours on Thursday, 8 hours on Friday, and 5 hours on Saturday.
Applying the 8/44 rule, Anisha worked 10 overtime hours last week. 10 is the number of hours Anisha worked over 44 hours in the work week (54 – 44 = 10) and is greater than 9 (2 + 2 + 2 + 3 = 9), which is the number of hours Anisha worked over 8 hours on each workday during the week.
| Day | Mon. | Tues. | Wed. | Thurs. | Fri. | Sat. | Sun. | Weekly Total |
| Hours Worked | 10 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 54 |
| Hours Over 8 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
Employers must pay employees overtime pay for the overtime hours they work. Subsection 22(1) of the Code says an employer must pay overtime pay for overtime hours at a rate that is at least 1.5 times the employee’s wage rate. Applying this rule to the examples above:
- Ivan’s employer must pay him overtime pay of $276 each week (8 overtime hours * $23 per hour * 1.5 = $276).
- Anisha’s employer must pay her overtime pay of $315 for last week (10 overtime hours * $21 per hour * 1.5 = $315).
Enforcement
An employee who believes they have not received the pay they are entitled to under the Code should raise the issue with their employer. If the employer and employee cannot resolve the issue, the employee can make a complaint to Alberta Employment Standards to obtain a remedy.
Exceptions and Other Rules
It is important to know that there are exceptions to the general rules outlined in this article. To learn about those exceptions and the other minimum employment standards set out in Alberta’s Employment Standards Code, and how to make an employment standards complaint, visit the Alberta Employment Standards website.
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DISCLAIMER The information in this article was correct at time of publishing. The law may have changed since then. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of LawNow or the Centre for Public Legal Education Alberta.
About Jennifer Taylor
