How often does my employer have to pay me?
Short answer
In Quebec, wages must be paid at regular intervals that cannot exceed 16 days, or one month in the case of managers and certain people covered by a particular contract. For a new hire, the first payment may be made up to one month after the person starts work (s. 43 of the Act respecting labour standards).
In detail
Section 43 does not set a “pay every 16 days” rule: it sets a maximum between two successive payments. Weekly or biweekly pay therefore complies with the rule. Monthly pay does not comply for an employee who is not a manager.
With each pay, the employer must give a pay sheet containing enough information to allow the calculation to be checked: in particular the name, the date, the work period, the number of hours paid at the regular rate, the number of overtime hours, the nature and amount of each bonus, indemnity or allowance, the wage rate, the amount of gross wages, the nature and amount of each deduction, and the net wages (s. 46).
When the employment ends, the wages owed are paid at the time they would normally have been paid, according to the usual pay cycle.
What to document
The date of each payment received, the pay stubs and the period each one covers, and any gaps compared with the cycle you were told about. A late pay is shown by a series of dates, not by an impression.
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 — Interpretation guide, section 43
- CNESST — Interpretation guide, section 46 (pay sheet)
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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.