Shawnee Love   •  
December 6, 2012

Recently, I had a question from an employee based in Alberta regarding whether or not his employer was allowed to do a holiday shutdown.

The laws associated with employment in AB as with most other provinces cover many topics such as minimum wage, deductions, holidays and holiday pay, but they tend not to prevent a company from temporarily halting operations.  If the temporary shutdown goes for a long time (i.e., multiple weeks), it could be perceived as a layoff (in which case notice or pay in lieu of notice is required).  However, a two or three day shutdown would not be considered a layoff, and as long as the company is providing enough notice (i.e., more than statutorily required), that is considered fair under the circumstances.

If you want to do a holiday closure:

• Provide plenty of notice of the impending holiday shutdown.
• Be clear about whether the time off is a Christmas bonus (i.e., paid but not worked) or unpaid.
• If unpaid, encourage your employees to let you know how they want to handle the unpaid days.  Typical options include using accrued vacation or banked time, taking vacation time, or simply remaining unpaid.

One parting note to consider is that I have seen a few cases where employees are put in a financial pickle by the shutdown (for a myriad of reasons).  Be open to discussing the situation and coming to a positive resolution. (Resolutions are as diverse as the concerns themselves, and depend on the circumstances.)

Happy Holidays.