***Update*** Though Bill 148 is still in effect at the time of this update, on May 7th 2018 the Ontario Government announced that the Public Holiday Pay section was reverting BACK to what it was before January 1st 2018 as of July 1st 2018. Find out more here.

Original Post Published April 12th:

Under the new rules that took effect on Jan. 1 2018 as part of Bill 148, how public holiday pay is calculated has changed completely.

The first notable difference is that employees under the probationary period (employed for less than three months) are now entitled to Public Holiday pay. But that isn’t the most impactful change.

Under Ontario’s new formula, public holiday pay is calculated by dividing regular wages earned in the pay period before the public holiday by the number of days worked in that pay period. The calculation is based on the past two weeks. In the past, public holiday pay was calculated by taking the amount earned in the four weeks prior to the holiday, divided by 20 days.

Under the old system, for example, a full-time person would get paid a full day for a statutory holiday, and a half-time person would get a half day. Someone that only worked one eight-hour shift a week would receive 20 per cent of a day’s pay.

Under the new system, a full-time worker would still get a full day of pay for the public holiday and someone working part-time would get a half day. However, if someone worked just one eight-hour day in the two weeks before the holiday, they would receive eight hours of pay – or a full day, which is the same as a full-time employee. If they worked an eight-hour shift and a four-hour shift they would receive six hours, based on the government’s holiday pay calculator.

For some businesses with a large part-time work force, the changes mean that during some months they will pay more in additional holiday pay than they’ll fork over to the recent minimum-wage increase.

More information on how to calculate Public Holiday Pay in Ontario can be found at Ontario’s Ministry of Labour’s website.

Article source came from the Globe and Mail.