Alberta employment standards are the minimum rules most private-sector employers in the province must follow on wages, hours, overtime, holidays, vacation, leaves, and how a job ends. They come from the province’s Employment Standards Code, and they set a floor: your contract or collective agreement can give you more, but not less.1Government of Alberta. Employment Standards The sections below cover what you’re entitled to and what your employer has to provide.
Who the Code Covers
The Code applies to most employees and employers in Alberta’s private sector. Restaurants, retail, oil and gas, construction, and similar provincial businesses all fall under it. Self-employed contractors do not.
Workers in banking, airlines, interprovincial trucking, telecommunications, and other federally regulated industries fall under the Canada Labour Code instead.2Government of Canada. List of Federally Regulated Industries and Workplaces A bank teller in Calgary and a retail cashier in Calgary work under completely different labour laws. If you’re in a federally regulated sector, nothing on this page applies to you.
Minimum Wage and How You Get Paid
Alberta’s general minimum wage is $15.00 per hour. Students under 18 have a lower rate of $13.00 per hour.3Government of Alberta. Employment Standards Rules – Minimum Wage There is no separate training wage or server wage in the province.
Employers have to pay at least once a month, though most run weekly, biweekly, or semi-monthly pay periods. Every paycheque must be accompanied by a statement of earnings showing hours worked, wage rates, and all deductions. Employers must keep employment records for at least three years.4Government of Alberta. Employment Standards Rules – Payment of Earnings
Only certain deductions are legal. Employers can withhold amounts required by law — income tax, CPP contributions, EI premiums — and anything you’ve agreed to in writing, such as benefit plan premiums.5Government of Alberta. Employment Standards Rules – Deductions From Earnings What they cannot do is dock your pay for cash register shortages or lost property when anyone besides you had access to it. They also cannot charge you for uniforms, including their purchase, cleaning, or repair.
Hours, Breaks, and Overtime
Alberta uses the 8/44 rule. You earn overtime for hours worked beyond eight in a day or 44 in a work week, whichever calculation gives you more overtime hours. The minimum overtime rate is 1.5 times your regular wage.6Government of Alberta. Employment Standards Rules – Overtime Hours and Overtime Pay
Some employers use overtime agreements to bank hours instead of paying cash. With a written agreement, each overtime hour earns 1.5 hours of paid time off. Banked time must be used within six months of the end of the pay period in which it was earned; if it isn’t, the employer owes you the cash equivalent.
Breaks and Rest
Break entitlements depend on shift length:7Government of Alberta. Employment Standards Tool Kit Module 3 – Hours of Work and Rest
- Shifts of 5 hours or less: no break required.
- Shifts of more than 5 but less than 10 hours: at least one 30-minute break.
- Shifts of 10 hours or more: at least two 30-minute breaks.
If both sides agree, a 30-minute break can be split into two 15-minute periods. Breaks can be skipped only in genuine emergencies or unforeseeable circumstances, and if you can’t take yours, the employer must pay for that time. Between shifts, employers must provide at least eight consecutive hours of rest.
General Holidays
Alberta recognizes nine general (statutory) holidays:8Government of Alberta. Employment Standards – Alberta General Holidays
- New Year’s Day
- Alberta Family Day
- Good Friday
- Victoria Day
- Canada Day
- Labour Day
- Thanksgiving Day
- Remembrance Day
- Christmas Day
To qualify for holiday pay, you must have worked for the same employer for at least 30 workdays in the 12 months before the holiday. Employers can recognize additional days beyond these nine if they choose.
If you qualify and work on a holiday that falls on a regular workday, the employer has two options: pay your average daily wage plus 1.5 times your regular rate for hours worked, or pay your regular rate for the day and give you a different day off with average daily wage pay.9Government of Alberta. Employment Standards Tool Kit Module 6 – General Holidays If the holiday falls on a day you wouldn’t normally work and you’re called in, you’re entitled to at least 1.5 times your wage rate for the hours worked.
Vacation
Vacation grows with time on the job:10Government of Alberta. Employment Standards Rules – Vacations and Vacation Pay
- 1 to 4 years with the same employer: two weeks of vacation and vacation pay equal to 4% of annual wages.
- 5 or more years: three weeks of vacation and vacation pay equal to 6% of annual wages.
Your contract or collective agreement can give you more. For hourly, commissioned, or incentive-paid employees, vacation pay is calculated as a percentage of total wages earned during the year. Employers must pay vacation pay when you take your vacation, or, for hourly employees, include it on each paycheque if both sides agree.
Job-Protected Leaves
Alberta offers a range of unpaid leaves that protect your job while you’re away. You generally become eligible after 90 days with the same employer.11Government of Alberta. Job-Protected Leaves Your employer cannot fire you or penalize you for taking an authorized leave, and you must be reinstated to the same or an equivalent position with your seniority intact.12Government of Alberta. Compassionate Care Leave
Short-Term Leaves
- Personal and family responsibility leave: up to 5 days per calendar year.
- Bereavement leave: up to 3 days per calendar year.
- Domestic violence leave: up to 10 days per calendar year.
- Citizenship ceremony leave: up to a half-day, once in a lifetime.
Long-Term Leaves
- Maternity leave: up to 16 consecutive weeks for birth mothers.13Government of Alberta. Employment Standards Tool Kit Module 8 – Job-Protected Leaves
- Parental leave: up to 62 weeks for birth or adoptive parents.
- Compassionate care leave: up to 27 weeks to care for a gravely ill family member.12Government of Alberta. Compassionate Care Leave
- Critical illness leave: up to 36 weeks for a critically ill child, or 16 weeks for an adult.
- Long-term illness and injury leave: up to 16 weeks per calendar year.
- Death or disappearance of a child leave: up to 52 weeks if a child has disappeared, or up to 104 weeks if a child has died as the probable result of a crime.
- Reservist leave: up to 20 days per calendar year for annual training, or longer for deployment.
These leaves are unpaid under the Code, but many pair with federal Employment Insurance benefits. You may qualify for EI maternity, parental, compassionate care, or family caregiver benefits to partially replace your income.
Youth Employment
Alberta restricts what young workers can do and when:14Government of Alberta. Employment Standards Rules – Youth Employment Laws
- Age 12 and under: artistic work only (film, television, theatre, voice recordings), with a government permit and parental consent.
- Ages 13 to 14: limited jobs without a permit, including retail clerk, newspaper delivery, light janitorial work, tutoring, coaching, and certain food service positions. Food service requires continuous adult supervision. On school days, they can work a maximum of two hours outside school hours and cannot work during school hours.
- Ages 15 to 17: no job-type restrictions or permit requirements. Parental consent is only required if the employer wants to schedule them during restricted nighttime hours.
The $13.00 student minimum wage applies to all employees under 18. These youth rules do not cover self-employed contractors, volunteers, or work on farms and ranches.
Termination, Layoffs, and Final Pay
When an employer ends the job, the required notice depends on how long you’ve been there:15Government of Alberta. Employment Standards – Termination and Lay-Off
- More than 90 days but less than 2 years: 1 week
- 2 years but less than 4 years: 2 weeks
- 4 years but less than 6 years: 4 weeks
- 6 years but less than 8 years: 5 weeks
- 8 years but less than 10 years: 6 weeks
- 10 years or more: 8 weeks
The employer can give working notice or pay termination pay in lieu. Employees with fewer than 90 days of service are not entitled to notice. No notice is required when termination is for just cause, meaning serious misconduct such as theft, insubordination, or persistent neglect of duties.
If you quit, you owe notice too. The required period mirrors the employer’s obligations, starting at one week after 90 days of service.
Temporary Layoffs
A layoff is a pause, not a permanent end. In Alberta, a layoff can last up to 90 days within any 120-day period. If you haven’t been recalled by the 91st day, the layoff automatically becomes a termination, and the employer owes the applicable termination pay.
Group Terminations
When an employer plans to terminate 50 or more employees at a single location within a four-week period, they must give the responsible minister at least four weeks of written notice before the terminations take effect. Individual termination notices are still required on top of the group notice. Seasonal and task-specific employment is exempt from the group rules.
Final Pay
After employment ends, the employer must issue final pay within 10 calendar days after the end of the pay period in which the termination happened, or 31 calendar days after your last day of work, whichever comes first. This applies whether you quit or were fired.
Filing a Complaint
If you believe your employer has broken the Code, you can file a complaint online at no cost through the Alberta government’s Employment Standards portal. You can file while still employed or at any time up to six months after your last day of work.16Government of Alberta. File an Employment Standards Complaint
Once a complaint is submitted, an Employment Standards Officer investigates by reviewing payroll records and interviewing the parties. If the officer finds you’re owed money, they can issue a formal Order to Pay against the employer covering unpaid wages, overtime, vacation pay, or other amounts owing. Either side has 21 days to appeal the officer’s decision, and an employer appealing an Order to Pay must deposit the full amount with the appeal.17Government of Alberta. Complaint Resolution Process You don’t need a lawyer to file or take part in the investigation.