(updated from when it was first published here in the NS Advocate)
In Nova Scotia, Remembrance Day has its own act, because it is not a “general paid holiday” under Labour Standards and it’s not a “designated closing day.”
Then what is it – apart from the remembrance of soldiers who fought in World War I and II? It is what I call a punitive holiday day because many Nova Scotians must forego pay. Remembrance Day is celebrated on the day itself. The law requires shops in malls, big box stores, major grocery stores, liquor stores and other retail venues to be closed. You get the day off – but without pay! If you work at a florist for instance, the shop must close due to Remembrance Day, so this week your pay cheque will be 20% lighter than normal.
Who gets a day off with pay?
If you work at a bar or a restaurant which does open, or you work in a gas station, a shop with fewer than 3 staff, or a pharmacy – you may have to work that day. If you do work, you get paid (straight time) for the day of work plus you get an extra day off with pay. That is — only if you work Remembrance Day AND you have worked for pay for 15 days in the last 30 days.
In NS, no union likely means no paid holiday
Confused? You are meant to be!
Like Labour Standards in NS, the Remembrance Day Act is full of exceptions.
Farm workers are exempt, so are those who work in bakeries, fish and meat processing plants, dairy production, logging, aquaculture and even newspaper publishing (where are the newspapers these days?). Of course hospital workers, police and those who work in fire services are exempt too. But they have unions which usually negotiate premium pay for their members who work Remembrance Day.
If you’re lucky enough to be in a union, most collective agreements designate 11 Nov. as a paid holiday like other statutory holidays.
If you work at Tim Hortons: at 10.59 am you do get 3 minutes off with pay
There is a small reprieve for everyone who does have to work on 11 Nov. —such as those who work in coffee shops like Tim Hortons. The Remembrance Day Act calls for your boss to “suspend operations for 3 minutes starting at 10:59 am on November 11”—that means you do get a 3 minute break. Still it’s probably not long enough for you to even drink a coffee. And FYI -- the Act stipulates that no bar can open before 12 noon on Remembrance Day-- which is why it's customary for commemorative services to end well before noon.
Image at the top. Autumn in France, by Emily Carr (1911). National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa.