It Is Illegal to Remunerate or Bank Overtime Hours at the Regular Salary Rate

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When you work overtime, that is, work in addition to your normal hours of work, you must be paid at the overtime rate.

It is a violation of the Quebec, Act Respecting Labour Standards, to pay or bank overtime hours at the regular salary rate.

Any work performed in addition to the regular work-week entails a premium of 50% of the prevailing hourly wage paid to the employee except premiums computed on an hourly basis. Act Respecting Labour Standards, Article 55.

You can (Employee choice, not Employer) also with the agreement of the Employer, bank the overtime hours. The banked time is also banked at the overtime rate. (Art. 19.07, Local Collective Agreement)

Article 55 in the Act Respecting Labour Standards, regarding hours banked.

Notwithstanding the first paragraph, the employer may, at the request of the employee or in the cases provided for by a collective agreement or decree, replace the payment of overtime by paid leave equivalent to the overtime worked plus 50%.

Subject to a provision of a collective agreement or decree, the leave must be taken during the 12 months following the overtime at a date agreed between the employer and the employee; otherwise the overtime must be paid.

The time worked during breaks or lunch / dinner is also paid at the overtime rate.

No agreements exist between the employer and the unions to remunerate overtime work at the regular salary rate. This would violate Article 19 from the National Collective Agreement and the Quebec Labour Standards Act.

Contact your local union office if your department refuses to respect the overtime rates. If you don’t belong to a union or accreditation then contact the Tribunal administratif du travail (TAT).

Excerpts from Article 19,  from the National Collective Agreement 

19.01 All work done in addition to the regular day or week of work with the approval or knowledge of the immediate supervisor, and without objection on her/his part, shall be deemed to be overtime.

19.02 All work performed by the employee on her/his weekly days off, provided it is approved by or done with the knowledge of the employer or his representative, shall be deemed to be overtime and paid at time-and-a-half.

19.03 An employee who does overtime work shall be remunerated at the rates hereinafter indicated for the number of overtime hours worked:

  • 1- at one-and-on-half time her/his regular salary rate, as a general rule;
  • 2- at double her/his regular salary rate if the overtime is worked on a statutory holiday, in addition to payment for the holiday.

Excerpts from the Article 19,  from the Local Agreement (MUHCEU)

19.01 If overtime work must be done, the Employer must offer it in turn to available employees who normally do this work.

For purposes of distributing overtime, each time that an employee refuses to work overtime she/he shall be deemed to have worked the overtime offered.

In urgent or unforeseen cases, however, or cases of work that must not be interrupted in order to be completed, the Employer may offer it first to employees who are on the premises.

19.07 As a general rule, overtime is remunerated.

However, at the employee’s request and with the Employer’s consent, hours worked as overtime may be converted into time owed. In such cases, the following terms and conditions shall apply:

  • 1- Hours worked as overtime, shall be recorded in converted hours (at the applicable rate) in the payroll system’s time bank.
  • 2- An employee may not have more than five (5) days of work in her/his bank of time off at any time.
  • 3- An employee must make a request to the Employer to take banked timed off.
    • a) seven (7) days before the time off is taken, in the case of a request for more than one (1) day;
    • b) twenty-four (24) hours before the time off is taken, in the case of a request for one (1) day;
    • c) notwithstanding the above-mentioned periods of prior notice, these periods of time may be shortened with the Employer’s consent.
  • 4- The Employer shall grant the time off, in accordance with the needs of the service.
  • 5- When an employee has accumulated the maximum number of hours allowed in her/his bank, each additional hour worked as overtime shall automatically be paid with the next pay cheque.

The above is for information purposes only. For more information, questions and other leaves contact your local union office.