04 Oct How to Calculate Stat Pay in BC
How to calculate Stat Pay in BC (Statutory Holiday Pay) can be a little bit daunting.
The good news is: It’s not that hard
The bad news is: It’s pretty time consuming
Of course we would love it if you sign up for a Free 30 Day Trial of Payroll Connected and just let the payroll software do all these calculations completely automatically for as low as $19 per month thereafter. (It’s the ONLY payroll software in Canada that completely follows all the rules below, by the way). However, if you’re not quite ready to make the move to easier payroll, here’s how you can do it the old fashioned way.
The first thing to note is that Salaried employees typically do not receive Statutory Holiday Pay per se. They get a day off for the Stat Day, but no money in addition to their regular salary.
For regular wage employees though, Stat Pay in BC is a two step process:
Step 1. Do they qualify to get Stat Pay at all
Step 2. If they qualify, calculate their Stat Pay
Qualifying for Stat Pay in BC
For an employee to receive Stat Pay in BC, they first have to pass two qualifying tests.
The first is that they must have been employed for at least 30 days prior to the Statutory Holiday.
If yes, then the second test is that they must have worked at least 15 days in the 30 days prior to the Statutory Holiday. For this reason, it’s always recommended that accurate schedules of work be kept.
Calculating Stat Pay in BC
If the employee qualifies to receive Stat Pay, the next thing to do is to add up two sets of numbers:
1. The total number of days AND total number of hours worked in the 30 days previous to the Stat Day.
2. The Total Wages in the 30 days previous to the Stat Day. The definition of ‘Total Wages’ includes:
– Regular Wages
– Commission- Statutory Holiday Pay
– Vacation Pay Paid
NOTE that Overtime is NOT included in ‘Total Wages’ for Stat Pay in BC.
Once you have the totals, the calculation for Stat Pay is as simple as Total Wages divided by Days Worked. Ta-dah! That’s their Stat Pay for the day. Also divide the total hours by the number of days worked to get their Insurable Hours for the Stat Day.
Example: Sandra worked 22 shifts in the 30 days prior to a Stat Day totaling 165 hours, and earned $3,200.00 in Total Wages. So their Stat Pay is calculated as $3,200.00 / 22 = $145.45 for the Stat Pay. For their Insurable Hours for the Stat Day, just divide 165 hours / 22 shifts = 7.5 Insurable Hours.
In the end, calculating Stat Pay in BC isn’t that bad. In fact it’s pretty straight forward. But as I mentioned before, having to add up the hours, days, and wages for EACH employee over a 30 day period is enough to make you cry a little, and reach for that fourth cup of coffee. However, whenever you decide to get rid of this payroll headache, Payroll Connected’s automatic stat calculating payroll software is here to help.
For all the little nits and nuances, you can find the legislation on Stat Pay in BC right here on the BC Government’s own site: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/employment-business/employment-standards-advice/employment-standards/statutory-holidays/calculate-statutory-holiday-pay
Photo by Brayden Law on Unsplash