How many weeks of vacation am i entitled to after 3 years?
Short answer
In Quebec, a person with 3 years of uninterrupted service at the end of the reference year is entitled to 3 continuous weeks of vacation, with an indemnity of 6% of the gross wages earned during the reference year. Before 3 years, it is 2 weeks and 4% (ss. 68 to 74 of the Act respecting labour standards).
In detail
The reference year runs from May 1st to April 30, unless the employer sets a different one in writing or by collective agreement. The entitlement crystallizes at the end of that year: it is the uninterrupted service accumulated at that point that determines 2 or 3 weeks.
A person with less than one year of uninterrupted service at the end of the reference year is entitled to one day of leave per month of uninterrupted service, up to a maximum of 2 weeks, with an indemnity of 4%.
The indemnity is calculated on the gross wages of the reference year, not on the wage at the time of the vacation. It must be paid in a single payment before the leave begins. When the employment ends, the indemnity that has accumulated but has not been taken must be paid.
What to document
Your hire date, the vacation weeks you took and their dates, the gross wages for each reference year, and the pay stub where the indemnity appears. The calculation can be redone from those three elements: length of service, gross wages, and the amounts paid.
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.
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Official sources
- Act respecting labour standards (CQLR, c. N-1.1) — Légis Québec
- CNESST (MALNT) — Length of the vacation to be granted
- Éducaloi — Annual vacation
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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.