Work hours: 7 common questions

No. However, if you offer this benefit to your employees, they must be paid since they are deemed to be at work. In other words, even if they are not at their workstation, their time is still considered to be time worked.

An unpaid 30-minute break is mandatory after five consecutive hours of work. If your employees have to remain available for work, this break must be paid.
 

If you require that your employees take a training course, they are deemed to be at work, so their hours of training are considered working hours. You must also reimburse their training costs (transportation, meals, accommodation, etc.)
 

Yes. You have to calculate your employees’ hours of work as soon as they come in to work and are at your disposal.
 

When you ask your employees to come in to work as part of their usual job, but then decide to send them home due to a lack of work before they have completed three consecutive hours of work, you must pay them an indemnity equal to three hours of their regular wages.
However, you do not have to pay this indemnity if your employees’ regular work schedules include shifts of less than three hours or if an incident beyond your control, such as a fire, forces you to close the store.
 

No. Your employees are entitled to a rest period of at least 32 consecutive hours per week, except if you have a pre-established agreement with individual employees for staggered working hours. However, the law does not provide for a minimum rest period between two work shifts.
 

No. Despite popular belief, you are not required to release work schedules two weeks in advance. However, as of January 1, 2019, you will have to release work schedules at least five days in advance; otherwise, an employee could refuse to come in to work.