Encoded rule v1.0.0 · rule data last verified 2026-07-06 · official source pages checked 2026-07-30
Answer first
The general Ontario review
For most Ontario employees covered by the ESA, overtime starts after 44 hours in a work week and is paid at 1.5 times the regular rate. Ontario does not use a general daily overtime threshold. Employees must receive a 30-minute eating period before working more than five consecutive hours, subject to the ESA rules and exemptions.
Most employees qualify for public holiday entitlements unless they fail, without reasonable cause, to work all of their last regularly scheduled day before the holiday or first regularly scheduled day after it. The public holiday pay formula uses regular wages plus applicable vacation pay from the four work weeks before the holiday week, divided by 20.
Do statutory holidays count toward overtime in Ontario?
Public holiday pay for a day the employee did not work is not a worked hour toward Ontario’s general 44-hour overtime threshold. If the employee works the holiday and receives premium pay for those hours, those premium-pay hours are excluded from the overtime test. If the employee instead receives regular wages for the holiday work plus a substitute holiday, the hours actually worked are included. Confirm the employee’s coverage and the written holiday arrangement.
These calculations follow our best reading of each province’s Employment Standards Act, but rules vary by employee classification, collective agreement, industry-specific exemptions, and edge cases we cannot detect. Treat the values as estimates only and confirm with a payroll professional or accountant before processing pay.
Assume an hourly line cook is covered by the general rule, has no averaging agreement, and works 47 hours in one employer-defined work week.
1
Regular hours: 44 × $20 = $880
2
Overtime hours: 47 − 44 = 3
3
Overtime pay: 3 × ($20 × 1.5) = $90
Illustrative gross wages for worked hours: $970.
Check the employee category, any special rule or averaging agreement, and how public-holiday premium hours interact with the week before using this result for payroll.
A variable three-day schedule with vacation pay on each cheque
Assume the employee earned $1,920 in regular wages during the four relevant work weeks and had $76.80 in vacation pay payable for that period.
1
Regular wages plus vacation pay: $1,920 + $76.80 = $1,996.80
2
Public holiday pay: $1,996.80 ÷ 20 = $99.84
Illustrative public holiday pay: $99.84.
Confirm the exact four work weeks, which vacation pay is payable in that period, the last-and-first rule, and whether the employee works the holiday. Written or electronic agreements affect the available worked-holiday options.
A server is scheduled from 4:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.
Plan at least 30 minutes free from work before the server exceeds five consecutive hours. The employer and employee may agree to split the eating period into two periods totalling at least 30 minutes within each five-hour window.
Ontario says eating periods are generally unpaid unless the employment contract requires payment. Even a paid eating period must remain free from work to count as the required break.
A 6:00 p.m.–2:00 a.m. block cannot be stored as one exact shift in the current Maxuod Shift scheduler. Keep the overnight template or another time record as the source, or use a documented midnight split and reconcile both pieces before relying on weekly totals.
Ontario restaurant scheduling scenario
A Toronto restaurant publishes a 42-hour week for a line cook, then adds a five-hour Saturday call-in. The manager should review three items before payroll handoff: the resulting 47-hour weekly total, whether any shift crossed a public holiday or midnight boundary, and whether every long service shift had a real eating-period plan. The software can surface hours and review prompts; it cannot decide ESA coverage or final pay treatment.
Why some calculations always need review
We use current shift data × current hourly wage as the lookback wages. Vacation pay, paid sick leave, and historical wage changes are not yet tracked — this can shift the stat-pay number slightly.
The "must work scheduled before/after" rule cannot be perfectly verified from actual shift data — the estimate flags this and asks for review.
Official sources and checked date
We opened the three government pages below on 2026-07-30. That is the content check for this guide; it does not change the encoded payroll rule version or its verification date.
When the estimate engine is enabled in a free account and a Ontario payroll week contains a paid statutory holiday, Maxuod Shift separates worked-holiday days, non-worked eligible holidays, and regular days. It shows an estimated adjustment against the regular payroll amount already entered. Nothing is added to gross pay until the manager confirms the review.
The product provides estimates, source links, and review prompts. It does not decide employee coverage, approve an overtime agreement, confirm an absence, or replace payroll, accounting, or legal advice.
