Decree respecting the automotive services industry in the montréal region

The reference year is a period of 12 consecutive months during which an employee progressively acquires entitlement to an annual leave. That period extends from 1 May of the preceding year to 30 April of the current year.

An employee who, at the end of a reference year, is credited with less than 1 year of uninterrupted service with the same employer during that period, is entitled to an uninterrupted leave for a duration determined at the rate of 1 working day for each month of uninterrupted service, for a total leave not exceeding 2 weeks.

The indemnity for that leave is 4% of the gross wages of the employee during the reference year.

An employee who, at the end of a reference year, is credited with 1 year of uninterrupted service with the same employer during that period, is entitled to an annual leave of a minimum duration of 2 consecutive weeks.

The indemnity for that leave is 4% of the gross wages of the employee during the reference year.

An employee is also entitled, if he applies therefore, to an additional annual leave without pay equal to the number of days required to increase his annual leave to 3 weeks.

Such additional leave need not follow immediately a leave provided for in the first paragraph and, notwithstanding sections 7.07 and 7.10, it may not be divided, or be replaced by a compensatory indemnity.

The employee who, at the end of a reference year, is credited with 3 years of uninterrupted service with the same employer during that period, is entitled to an annual leave of a minimum duration of 3 consecutive weeks.

The indemnity for that leave is 6% of the gross wages of the employee during the reference year.

An employee who, at the end of a reference year, is credited with 15 years of uninterrupted service with the same employer during that period, is entitled to an annual leave of a minimum duration of 4 weeks, 3 of which are consecutive.

The indemnity for that leave is 8% of the gross wages of the employee during the reference year.

The annual leave must be taken during the 12 months following the end of the reference year.

Notwithstanding the first paragraph, the employer may, at the request of the employee, allow the annual leave to be taken, in whole or in part, during the reference year.

In addition, if at the end of the 12 months following the end of a reference year, the employee is absent owing to sickness, an organ or tissue donation for transplant, an accident or a criminal offence or is absent or on leave for family or parental matters, the employer may, at the request of the employee, defer the annual leave to the following year. If the annual leave is not so deferred, the employer must pay the indemnity for the annual leave to which the employee is entitled.

Any period of salary insurance, sickness insurance or disability insurance interrupted by a leave taken in accordance with the first paragraph is continued, where applicable, after the leave, as if it had never been interrupted.

The annual leave may be divided into 2 periods where so requested by the employee. However, the employer may refuse the request if he closes his establishment for a period equal to or greater than that of the employee’s annual leave.

The annual leave may also be divided into more than 2 periods where so requested by the employee, provided the employer consents thereto.

A leave not exceeding one week cannot be divided.

An employee is entitled to know the date of his annual leave at least 4 weeks in advance.

An employee must notify the employer at least 4 weeks in advance as to when he prefers to take his annual leave.

An employee must receive the indemnity for the annual leave in a single payment before the leave begins.

However, when the annual leave is divided in accordance with section 7.07, the indemnity shall correspond to the fraction of the annual leave.

Employers are prohibited from replacing a leave provided for in sections 7.02 to 7.05 by a compensatory indemnity. At the request of the employee, the third week and, where applicable, the fourth week may, however, be replaced by a compensatory indemnity if the establishment closes for 2 weeks on the occasion of the annual leave.

Should an employee provided for in sections 7.03 to 7.05 be absent owing to sickness or an accident or is on maternity or paternity leave during the reference year and should that absence result in the reduction of that employee’s annual leave indemnity, the employee is then entitled to an indemnity equal, as the case may be, to 2, 3 or 4 times the weekly average of the wage earned during the period of work. An employee provided for in section 7.02 whose annual leave is less than 2 weeks is entitled to that amount in proportion to the days of leave credited to his account.

Notwithstanding the first paragraph, the annual leave indemnity must not exceed the indemnity to which the employee would have been entitled if he had not been absent or on leave owing to a reason provided for in the first paragraph.

Where an employee quits his employment, he receives the indemnity related to the leave acquired before the preceding 1 May, if the leave was not taken, as well as the indemnity due to him for the period which has elapsed since that date.

No employer may reduce the annual leave of an employee or change the way in which the indemnity pertaining to it is computed, in comparison with what is granted to other employees performing the same tasks in the same establishment, for the sole reason that the employee usually works less hours each week.