BC stat holiday pay for restaurants and cafés

Updated October 13, 2026. A summary for planning, not legal, tax or payroll advice. Check the official source before you rely on it.

The 11 BC statutory holidays, 2026 and 2027

Easter Sunday, Easter Monday and Boxing Day are not statutory holidays in BC. (source)

Who qualifies

Two conditions, both needed:

1. Employed for at least 30 calendar days before the holiday.
2. Worked or earned wages on at least 15 of the 30 calendar days before the holiday. Paid vacation days, paid sick days required by the Act and other paid stat holidays count as days with wages.

Working the shift before and the shift after the holiday is not a rule in BC; that’s a common mix-up with other provinces. Employees under a written averaging agreement qualify even without 15 days in the last 30. Some kinds of work are excluded from stat holiday pay by the Employment Standards Regulation; check the official pages if you’re unsure. (source)

How to calculate an average day’s pay

The formula from the BC government:

Average day’s pay = total wages earned in the 30 calendar days before the holiday ÷ number of days worked (or with wages) in that period.

• Include regular wages, salary, commission, stat holiday pay, paid vacation and paid sick days required by the Act.
• Don’t include overtime.
• Days counted are days on which wages were earned, including paid vacation days, paid stat holidays and required paid sick days.

Example: a part-time server

In the 30 days before Thanksgiving, a server worked 16 days and earned $2,336.00 in regular wages (no overtime). Tips don’t count: they’re not wages. Average day’s pay is $2,336.00 ÷ 16 = $146.00. They qualify (employed over 30 days, 16 days with wages), so:

• If they take Thanksgiving off: $146.00.
• If they work 7 hours on Thanksgiving at $18.25: 7 x $27.375 = $191.63 for the hours, plus $146.00, so $337.63.

Working on the holiday

• Hours worked: time-and-a-half, and double time for hours over 12.
• Plus an average day’s pay.
• An employee who doesn’t qualify gets regular pay for working the holiday.
• If the holiday falls on a qualifying employee’s regular or scheduled day off, they still get an average day’s pay.

The government’s own example: with a $150.00 average day’s pay, working 14 hours on the holiday means 12 hours at time-and-a-half, 2 at double time, plus $150.00. (source)

Substituting another day

An employer and employee can agree in writing to move the holiday to another day. The substitute day is then treated exactly like the stat holiday. (source)

Planning stat holidays in a restaurant or café

1. Mark every stat holiday on the schedule calendar a few weeks ahead; Thanksgiving, Canada Day and B.C. Day are often busy, Christmas Day often closed.
2. Decide early whether you’re open. If you are, staff it lean: every hour costs 1.5x, and qualifying staff off that day are paid too.
3. Budget labour as hours x rate x 1.5 for everyone working, plus an average day’s pay for each qualifying employee.
4. Remember the week around the holiday: deliveries often move, so order earlier.
5. Check eligibility per person with your payroll provider; new hires in their first 30 days don’t qualify.

How Tasti Desk helps

Tasti Desk has stat holiday calendars for all 13 provinces and territories, set by your venue’s province. In the schedule, hours on a stat day are costed at time-and-a-half in labour cost, and the morning note reminds you when a stat day’s pay is coming up. Stock moves supplier deliveries that land on a stat holiday to the next day in its order math. Desk’s stat pay is a simplified planning estimate (it treats everyone as eligible and doesn’t add the average day’s pay); your payroll calculates the real amount.

Related features: Staff scheduling, Team, certificates and staff links.

Sources

• Statutory holidays (gov.bc.ca)
• Qualify for statutory holiday pay (gov.bc.ca)
• Calculate statutory holiday pay (gov.bc.ca)
• Interpretation guidelines: Act Part 5, section 44 (gov.bc.ca)

More guides

• BC scheduling rules for restaurants and cafés, in plain words
• BC minimum wage and overtime for restaurant staff (2026)
• Tip pooling rules in BC: what restaurant owners can and can't do
• How to calculate food cost percentage (with examples)