Jury duty pay in Canada?

January 2, 2012 7:33 AM

Are Canadian employers required to pay me my full salary while I am on jury duty? I am an overtime exempt store manager.

This is for Vancouver, BC, Canada.
I have tried to search for information but the USA dominates the search results.

I know the employer does NOT have to pay regular employees, but the USA part that keeps coming up in my searches is

"Exempt employees who are absent from work for part of a workweek to perform jury service should be paid their full salaries, otherwise their exempt status is put at risk "

I am whatever the Canadian equivalent of that is. I am a store manager, so they make me work overtime, without any overtime pay because I am exempt and salaried.
I'm also pretty sure that my work could not make it a week without asking me questions/getting me to do some work over email at night.

Does BC/Canada have a similar rule?

posted by anonymous to Work & Money (5 answers total)

No, you don't have to be paid, you're on leave. If they require you to work, you should discuss compensation with them. You do continue to accrue vacation and sick leave. I believe BC gives you a small stipend.
posted by jeather at 7:43 AM on January 2, 2012

No. BC does not require employers to pay employees' salaries while the employees are on leave for jury duty. Link Your employer is required to give you the leave to take jury duty, but if they do pay you your salary while on leave, it is voluntary. However, you do get paid by the court while on jury duty: See page 8 of this brochure.
posted by foxjacket at 7:45 AM on January 2, 2012

No, they don't. But it also sounds like you need more employment standards info, because being a manager and on salary does not necessarily mean they can *make* you work overtime without pay. I strongly recommend calling BC Employment Standards. Also, call Lawyer Referral and for $25 you can get 30 min with a lawyer. It would be well worth it.
posted by Chaussette and the Pussy Cats at 8:50 AM on January 2, 2012

Chaussette, salaried employees in every industry don't receive overtime pay normally- there's nothing illegal about that practice and is one risk of the otherwise very advantageous position of being salaried. Some employers offer "time in lieu" for de facto overtime work, but AFAIK that's not a legal requirement.

But that wasn't the question- the one asked has been answered by foxjacket.
posted by ethnomethodologist at 3:52 PM on January 2, 2012 [1 favorite]

Ethno, I did answer the question. But I added that the OP should look into overtime provisions for BC, because of the incorrect statement about overtime. I see you are in Alberta - note that Employment Standards are provincial and not the same across Canada, unless you are in a federal position. I double-checked the following factsheet and it notes that all employees (except those in specific industries or with averaging agreements) must be paid OT. In my experience, many employers try to convince people that they cannot be paid OT once they are on salary. This is false. So is the one hour in lieue for one hour of OT thing.

*IANAL but I spend a lot of time with employment law through my work.
posted by Chaussette and the Pussy Cats at 8:07 PM on January 2, 2012