Whether you’ve been working for the last 20 years or you are starting your first job, something that many workers overlook are the laws that govern their work and their employers. In Alberta, these laws are referred to as Alberta Employment Standards, and they apply to most employees in the province. The only problem is Employment Standards — also known as pages and pages of rules pertaining to work in the province — can be a very long read.

To save you some of your well-earned time off, we’ve identified some of the most common Employment Standards regulations that we get asked about at the Workers’ Resource Centre that we believe are essential for all Alberta workers to know.

1. Wage Rules

Minimum Wage
The general minimum wage in Alberta is $15 per hour. There are some exceptions for domestic workers and salespersons whose minimum wage is calculated monthly and weekly. Student workers under the age of 18 can be paid as low as $13/hour for up to 28 hours a week, however, other strict conditions must be met for employers to pay this student wage rate.

The 3-Hour Minimum Rule
Employees must be paid at least 3 hours of pay at minimum wage each time they go to work, even if their employer sends them home earlier. If you were called into work and sent home after working only 1 hour, you must still be paid for 3 hours of work.

2. Overtime and the 8/44 Rule

In Alberta, overtime for most workers is calculated using the 8/44 rule (Note: there are some industries and professions that are exempt from this rule). Overtime means all hours worked beyond 8 hours a day or 44 hours a week, whichever is more.

Let’s say you worked 10 hours a day for 5 days a week for a total of 50 hours. If you calculated overtime weekly (above 44 hours), you would only have 6 hours of overtime. But when you calculate it daily (8 hours) you would have 10 hours of overtime, so your employer would be required to compensate you for 10 hours of overtime, not 6.

Depending on the agreement with an employer, overtime can be compensated by paying workers at 1.5 times the regular rate of pay or by banking hours. If you and your employer agree to bank overtime hours, you are initially paid for overtime at the regular rate of pay and later, you are entitled paid time off equal to the number of overtime hours worked. (Note: unless stated in writing, banked overtime hours must be used within six months).

3. Breaks

Workers in Alberta are entitled to breaks after working 5 hours or more. If your shift is more than 5 hours long and less than 10 hours, you are entitled to at least one 30-minute break. If your shift is longer than 10 hours, you are entitled to at least two 30-minute breaks.

Breaks may be paid or unpaid. However, if your employer places restrictions on your activities during a break (such as not being allowed to leave your workplace), your break must be paid.

4. Rest

Alberta workers must be provided at least 1 day of rest from work each week. Employers can combine work weeks, meaning you work without rest for more than one week, but must provide workers with the following periods of rest:

• If you work 2 weeks straight, you are entitled to 2 consecutive days off before returning to work.
• If you work 3 weeks straight, you are entitled to 3 consecutive days off.
• If you work 4 days straight, you are entitled to 4 consecutive days off.

5. Job-protected leaves

There are 12 types of leaves that workers are allowed to take from work, without risking losing their job. Most workers who have been employed for more than 90 days are eligible for the following types of leave:

1. COVID-19 Infection = up to 14 days unpaid leave

2. COVID-19 vaccination = up to 3 hours paid leave

3. Citizenship Ceremony = half day unpaid leave

4. Maternity and Parental Leave = Up to 16 weeks unpaid maternity leave for a birth parent and up to 62 weeks of unpaid parental leave per child*

5. Personal and Family Responsibility = Up to 5 days of unpaid leave necessary for a worker’s health or for a worker’s family needs.

6. Illness/Injury Leave = up to 16 weeks per year of unpaid job-protected leave to heal from a long-term illness or injury.*   

7. Compassionate Care = up to 27 weeks unpaid leave to provide end-of-life care for a family member*

8. Critical Illness = up to 16 weeks unpaid leave to care for a critically ill adult family member and up to 36 weeks unpaid leave to care for a critically ill child*

9. Bereavement (death of a family member or a pregnancy loss) =3 days unpaid leave

10. Death or disappearance of a child = up to 52 weeks unpaid leave if the child has disappeared and up to 104 weeks unpaid if the child has died due to a crime.*

11. Domestic Violence = up to 10 days unpaid job-protected leave*

12. Reservist = unpaid job-protected leave for Canadian Forces reservists for deployment and training

 * While these leaves are not paid by the employer, there are other government programs and grants that provide income support due to these circumstances.

If you have questions about how these rules apply to your work, have an employer who isn’t following these rules, or need help with a job-protected leave, please click “Get Help” below.