Pushing for the elimination of permit required to swap a statutory holiday

Issue:

Currently in Saskatchewan, if an employer or their employee(s) wants to observe a public holiday on a different day, the employer needs to apply for a special permit (a Move to a Public Holiday Permit Application) and submit it to the Director of Employment Standards for approval.

In other provinces, an employer and their employee(s) can simply agree to observe a public holiday on a different day without obtaining a permit.

Action:

After dozens of phone calls from frustrated small business owners, CFIB decided to ask them how important it was to scrap this dumb rule.

April-May, 2017: We thank the 583 business owners who responded to CFIB’s Mandate #266 survey.

Survey results revealed a strong majority (71%) of you believe that an employer and their employee(s) should be allowed to agree to observe a public holiday on a different day without obtaining a permit. You told us that employees and employers should be allowed to work out a schedule that works best for both parties. Only 17 per cent were opposed to this idea (see Figure 1).

Next Steps: It’s time for the Ministry of Labour Relations and Workplace Safety to use some common sense and scrap this dumb rule. That’s why CFIB will continue to push to finally get this rule eliminated.

Have another red tape headache that needs to be fixed? Please contact Business Resources at 1-888-234-2232 or email [email protected].

Not a member of CFIB yet?  JOIN CFIB today for more help and information.