Policy Statement

The City of Toronto recognizes that employees need rest, recreation and time away from work, and encourages them to take their annual vacation entitlement in the year that it is received.

The vacation entitlements afforded to employees pursuant to this Policy exceed the requirements of the Employment Standards Act, 2000. Should the minimum standards mandated by that Act be amended, this Policy will be reviewed in order to ensure its continued compliance with the Act.

Application

This policy applies to all non-union employees, subject to individual employment contracts.

For reference only: Bargaining Unit employees will receive their vacation in accordance with their respective Collective Agreements:

Bargaining Unit Article
Local 79 Full Time Unit 10
Local 79 Unit B – Part time 11
Local 79 Long Term Care Homes Unit PT 13
Local 79 Part-Time Recreation Workers 12
Local 416 13
TPFFA Local 3888 11

Definitions

Permanent Employee

Full-time or Part-time employees holding a complement position on an indefinite basis.

Temporary Employee

Full-time or Part-time employees hired on a fixed-term basis.

Service

Years of work including the period commencing on the employee’s most recent date of hire.

Entitlement – Full-time Permanent Employees

Full-time, Permanent employees shall be granted an annual vacation entitlement, based on the employee’s years of service and in accordance with this accrual process:

Three weeks of paid vacation time off for employees who have not yet completed nine years of service accrued at a rate of one and one-quarter days per calendar month of service from their date of hire.

Four weeks of paid vacation time off for employees who have completed more than nine but less than 17 years of service accrued at a rate of one and two-thirds days per calendar month of service.

Five weeks of paid vacation time off for employees who have completed more than 17 but less than 22 years of service accrued at a rate of two and one-twelfth days per calendar month of service.

Six weeks of paid vacation time off for employees who have completed 22 or more years of service accrued at a rate of two and one-half days per calendar month of service.

Seven weeks of paid vacation time off for employees in their thirtieth year of service only.

Full-time, Permanent employees who are hired after January 1, 2019 and employees on vacation advance prior to December 31, 2018, will be credited with their annual vacation entitlement in advance in January of each subsequent year of employment and will be able to access their entitlement subject to the approval of their manager. Vacation entitlement will accrue on a monthly basis from their date of initial hire until January of the following year.

Full-time, Permanent employees who were hired prior to December 31, 2018, will continue to receive their annual vacation entitlement following the year in which it is earned, and will be able to access their entitlement subject to the approval of their manager.

Entitlement – Full-time Temporary Employees

Full-Time, temporary employees shall be granted an annual vacation entitlement, in accordance with the process described above for permanent employees accrued on a monthly basis.

Full-time, temporary employees who are hired after January 1, 2019, will be credited with their annual pro-rated remaining vacation entitlement for the year in advance, in January of each subsequent year of employment and will be able to access their entitlement subject to the approval of their manager.

Full-time, temporary employees who were hired prior to December 31, 2018, will continue to receive their vacation entitlement following the year in which it is earned.

Accrued vacation balances will be paid out upon expiry of the employee’s term of employment, including renewals or extensions of such temporary employment, if not already accessed. Such accrued vacation balances cannot be carried over to new periods of temporary employment.

Entitlement – Part-Time Permanent Employees

Part-Time, permanent employees shall be paid vacation savings pay bi-weekly as follows:

Six percent of earnings paid for employees who have not completed nine years of service.

Eight percent of earnings paid for employees who have completed more than nine but less than 17 years of service.

Ten percent of earnings paid for employees who have completed more than 17 but less than 22 years of employment.

Twelve percent of earnings paid for employees who have completed 22 or more years of employment.

Part-time, permanent employees shall be paid vacation savings pay at a rate of 14% percent of earnings paid in their 30th year of service only

Part-time, permanent employees’ vacation savings pay will be calculated on their wages in the current pay period at the rate listed above and paid out bi-weekly on the subsequent regular pay day.

Part-time, permanent employees shall be granted, upon request, unpaid vacation time off equivalent to the vacation time off that is granted to full-time, permanent employees, as set out above, pro-rated on the basis of the percentage of full-time hours worked and scheduled in accordance with Divisional scheduling procedures.

Part-time, permanent employees will have the option to request paid vacation time off instead of vacation savings pay paid out bi-weekly, at the time of hire.  A part-time, permanent employee may change their election for the following calendar year by notifying Payroll, Pensions & Employee Benefits in writing prior to June 30 of each year.  Paid vacation time off for part-time, permanent employees, having made such an election, will accrue on monthly basis based on months of employment.

The monthly vacation accrual will be credited in the month following the month in which the employee performed the work.

Entitlement – Part-Time Temporary Employees

Part-time, temporary employees will receive vacation savings pay based on their hours worked, at the rate of 6% of their gross earnings in the current pay period, paid out bi-weekly on the subsequent regular pay day.  Part-time, temporary employees who have been employed for more than nine years will have their vacation pay rate adjusted in accordance with the rates above for part-time permanent employees.

Part-time, temporary employees shall also be granted, upon request, unpaid vacation time off equivalent to the 6% of gross wages vacation pay already received, or in accordance with the minimum statutory requirements of the Employment Standards Act, 2000, as amended from time to time, whichever is greater.

Part-time, temporary employees will have the option to request paid vacation time off instead of vacation savings pay paid out bi-weekly, at the time of hire.  A part-time, temporary employee, making such an election, may change their election for any new period of temporary employment, which shall include an extension or renewal of an existing contract of temporary employment.  Paid vacation time off for part-time, temporary employees, having made such an election, will accrue monthly, on a pro-rated basis, based on the number of regular hours worked as a percentage of those of a full-time employee to a maximum of the monthly vacation accrual that a permanent full-time employee receives.

The vacation allotment will be credited in the month following the month in which the employee performed the work.

Accrued vacation allotments will be paid out upon expiry of the employee’s term of employment, including renewals or extensions of such temporary employment, if not already accessed.  Such accrued vacation allotments cannot be carried over to new periods of temporary employment.

Termination of Employment

Employees will be paid out all vacation pay entitlements earned but not taken, accrued at their monthly rate, for the year to date, that they are entitled to upon termination of their employment, in accordance with this policy or the minimum statutory requirements, whichever is greater.

Employees who have taken paid vacation time off that had been advanced but not yet accrued, will have the value of the excess vacation deducted from their final pay.

Employees who have not completed one year of employment will be paid out the remaining vacation balance to which they are entitled, pro-rated based on the number of months that they worked, upon termination of their employment.

Retirement

When an employee who receives vacation in arrears retires (typically hired before December 31, 2018), they will retain the current year’s unused vacation entitlement balance that they have received (based on service in the previous year) plus any unused balance carried forward from previous years, plus an additional amount equivalent to the pro-rated number of days for the current years’ service that have not yet been received. This additional amount is prorated from January 1st of the year of their retirement to the last day of the month in which they retire.  This total amount of vacation will be paid out in a lump sum upon retirement.

When an employee who receives vacation in advance retires (typically hired after January 1, 2019), they will be paid out the unused balance of the current year’s vacation entitlement accrued to the end of the month of their retirement plus any balance carried forward from the previous year.

Employees who have taken paid vacation time off that had been advanced for the year but not yet accrued, will have the value of the excess vacation deducted from their final pay.

Postponement of Vacation

Employees who are on scheduled vacations may postpone those vacations in the following circumstances:

  • They become ill or are injured and require treatment in hospital as an in-patient
  • They are required to appear in court for jury duty or witness service

Employees must submit proof of illness or jury duty/witness service to their manager or supervisor in order to receive approval for the postponement of the vacation and the vacation credits to be restored.

If the death of a family member occurs during an employee’s vacation, the employee will be granted bereavement leave with pay and the vacation credits will be restored.

Approved by

People Services and Engagement Committee on May 15, 2017

Originally Approved By

City Council on October 3, 2000

Last Revision

May 17, 2023