KJIPUKTUK (Halifax) – The good news is that the annual May Two-Four weekend, a.k.a. the Victoria Day weekend, is coming up. The bad news is, unless you are covered by a collective agreement at your workplace, you will not get the Monday off with pay. More bad news — if you do work that day, you earn only straight time: there is no holiday pay.
This is because Victoria Day, which is celebrated on Monday, May 21 this year, is not one of the six paid holidays in Nova Scotia.
Pretty well every mall, every store, garden centre, restaurant, and commercial service in Nova Scotia is open on Victoria Day. That is because Victoria Day is not one of the nine days that the provincial government declares a retail closing day, as per the Retail Business Designated Day Closing Act.
If you get the day off with pay, thank your union –- better still get actively involved in your union. If you don’t get the day off as a paid holiday, consider asking a union to represent you and your fellow workers. That way the union can negotiate for you to get the Monday of the May Two-Four weekend as a paid holiday. Contact me for further information: equitywatchns@gmail.com
Want more rights at work? Want to fight bullying and discrimination in the workplace: contact equitywatchns@gmail.com and join our Equity Watch site on FACEBOOK.
Judy Haiven is a retired management professor at the Sobey School of Business at Saint Mary’s University. She is on the steering committee of Equity Watch.
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