In December 2013, the government introduced a bill to create a holiday on the third Monday in February, starting in 2015. The permanent name for the holiday, Nova Scotia Heritage Day, was announced on June 26, 2014. Each year it will honour a different person, the first was Viola Desmond.

Family Day allows us to be together, celebrate one another, and embrace all that is good about those who enrich our lives and allow us to feel connected, while expanding our capacity for the true joy family brings.

About two-thirds of all Canadians will have the day off on Family Day. Observed in the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, New Brunswick, Ontario, and Saskatchewan. This holiday celebrates the importance of families and family life to people and their communities.

There is no federally established Family Day. This holiday was first observed in Alberta in 1990, followed by Saskatchewan in 2007 and Ontario in 2008. On May 28, 2012, the BC government announced that Family Day would be observed on the second Monday in February each year, starting February 11, 2013.

Family Day is not a national statutory holiday, it is only observed in New Brunswick, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Saskatchewan and in British Columbia. As mentioned above, unfortunately, not everyone gets Family Day off, which makes it a debatable holiday in many provinces.

If an employee works on Family Day, then the employee is entitled to general holiday pay of an amount that is equal to at least 1.5 times their wage rate for each hour worked on that day.

Employers have a legal obligation to pay the wages that their employees earn. They also have an obligation to pay those wages on time. California law protects employees who experience late or unpaid wages.

Holiday pay should initially be included in the worker’s total remuneration. However if the worker does not actually take the holiday, the holiday pay will remain included in the total remuneration and there is no corresponding reduction when calculating national minimum wage pay.

2. What happens if holiday falls on an employee’s regularly scheduled day off, or when the business is closed? While not required, many employers give an employee the option of taking off another day if a holiday falls on an employee’s regular day off.

Under the pay rules of DOLE, employees who will be on duty during a regular holiday will get twice their regular pay for that event. In a special non-working holiday, a “no work, no pay” will be the rule.

Your employer doesn’t have to let you take your holiday when you want to. They could refuse it – for example, if they’ll be short staffed or if you’ve booked all your holiday for that leave year already.

The employer has the right to reclaim overpaid wages even if the employee has left the company. However if the employee has already left, it can be more difficult for employers to recover any overpayments. If the final payment has been made, an informal request seeking repayment can be made to the former employee.

Contact your employer (preferably in writing) and ask for the wages owed to you. If your employer refuses to do so, consider filing a claim with your state’s labor agency. File a suit in small claims court or superior court for the amount owed.

An employer cannot lawfully deduct money from an employee’s wages unless the employee has agreed, in writing, that the employer can do so. If you are not able to reach an agreement during this process (e.g. they do not co-operate and you don’t get paid) then you will need to consider issuing a claim.

To discourage employers from delaying final paychecks, California allows an employee to collect a “waiting time penalty” in the amount of his or her daily average wage for every day that the check is late, up to a maximum of 30 days.

Yes. An employee who is owed unpaid wages can file a lawsuit against their employer to recover unpaid wages, in addition to other damages provided by law. An employer who pays late wages or fails to make final payments available is in violation of California wage and hour laws.

Failure to pay wages for work done counts, in law, as an unauthorised deduction from wages. If the matter cannot be resolved, you are entitled to make a claim to an employment tribunal. Failure to pay wages – in full and on time – is also a fundamental breach of the employment contract.