Can my employer choose my vacation dates?
Short answer
In Quebec, the choice of the vacation period belongs to the employer, but the employer must tell the employee the date of their annual leave at least 4 weeks in advance (s. 72 of the Act respecting labour standards).
In detail
This is a management right with limits. The employer sets the period, but the 4 weeks' notice is mandatory, and the vacation must in principle be taken continuously.
The employer cannot impose a split of the vacation. It is the employee who may ask to split it, if they are entitled to more than one week. One exception alone allows the employer to impose the splitting of 3 weeks: if, before March 29, 1995, it already closed its establishment for a period of 2 weeks and that practice is still in force — and one of the periods must then last at least 2 consecutive weeks.
Vacation must be taken within the 12 months following the end of the reference year. Carrying it over to the following year is possible only in specific cases, in particular where an absence for illness or for family reasons prevents it from being taken.
What to document
The vacation notice you received and its date, your request for particular dates if you made one and the reply, the applicable reference year, and the history of the periods granted in previous years. What gets checked is the gap between the notice and the date of the leave.
Put your facts in writing, free. Writing your version down early, keeping your documents dated and preparing your questions for a lawyer: the tool is there to document, never to advise.
Open the application Up to 3 files, no card · see the plans
Official sources
- Act respecting labour standards (CQLR, c. N-1.1) — Légis Québec
- CNESST (MALNT) — Carry-over, advance and splitting
- Éducaloi — Annual vacation
Related questions
- What are the paid statutory holidays in quebec?
- Do i get paid sick days in quebec?
- How long can i be off sick without losing my job?
- How many days of leave do i get for a death in my family?
- How long are maternity leave and parental leave in quebec?
See all the answers · the full guide collection · Lire en français
What this page is not
This is general legal information about the law of Quebec and Canada, dated and sourced. It is not legal advice, not a strategy, and not a prediction about the outcome of a case. In Quebec, only lawyers and notaries may give legal advice (Act respecting the Barreau du Québec, ss. 128 and 133). Laws and amounts change: the official source always prevails over us.