BC stat pay calculator
Updated
Statutory holiday pay in British Columbia is two separate amounts: an average day’s pay for the holiday, and a premium for hours actually worked on it. Most payroll errors come from paying one and not the other.
This tool does both, on the B.C. rules, and shows its work. It also settles the qualifying test first, because an employee who does not qualify is owed something different. The full rules are on the statutory holiday pay guide.
Quick answer: How to calculate stat pay in B.C.: take total wages earned in the 30 calendar days before the holiday, excluding overtime, and divide by the number of days worked in those 30 days. That average day’s pay is what the holiday itself is worth. An employee qualifies after 30 calendar days of employment having worked or earned wages on 15 of the 30 days before the holiday. Work on the holiday is paid on top: time-and-a-half to 12 hours, double time beyond 12.
Opens your own email app with the numbers filled in — add your question and a CPA replies, usually the same business day.
B.C. rules, for one employee and one statutory holiday. Averaging periods set by a collective agreement, and federally regulated employers, work differently. Estimate for orientation, not advice.
On this page
How stat pay is calculated in B.C., exactly
British Columbia does not pay a statutory holiday at the employee’s scheduled hours. It pays an average day’s pay, which is a calculation with a defined window and a defined exclusion:
| Step | What goes in |
|---|---|
| The window | The 30 calendar days immediately before the statutory holiday |
| Wages included | Regular wages, salary, commission, statutory holiday pay, paid vacation and employment-standards paid sick days |
| Wages excluded | Overtime |
| The divisor | The number of days worked — and any day on which wages were earned counts as a day worked |
| The result | Total wages ÷ days worked = an average day’s pay |
This catches payroll out twice. A part-timer who worked eight days in the window gets an average day above their usual shift, because the divisor is small. A salaried employee with steady pay still needs the calculation run, not an assumption.
What payroll people mean by a “super stat”
A “super stat” is the informal name for a statutory holiday that a qualifying employee works. It is “super” because two amounts are owed for the one day: the premium for the hours worked (time-and-a-half to 12 hours, double time after) plus the average day’s pay for the holiday itself. On the figures above, eight hours at $28 is 12 hours’ pay ($336) plus the $240 average day: $576 for the day. An employee who does not qualify gets only their regular wage for the hours worked. The term is payroll shorthand, not a phrase the Employment Standards Act uses.
How you qualify for stat pay in B.C.
The entitlement is not automatic on the first day of a job. An employee qualifies when both of these are true:
- They have been employed for 30 calendar days before the statutory holiday; and
- They worked or earned wages on 15 of the 30 days immediately before it.
Days with paid vacation, another paid statutory holiday or employment-standards paid sick leave count toward the 15, so the calculator asks for days wages were earned. The “work the day before and the day after” rule is not the test in British Columbia.
An employee who does not qualify is not owed an average day’s pay. If they work the holiday they are paid their regular wage for the hours worked, with no premium and no holiday pay.
If the employee works the holiday
Work on a statutory holiday is paid in addition to the average day’s pay, not instead of it. For a qualifying employee:
- Time-and-a-half for the hours worked, up to 12 hours in the day;
- Double time for any hours worked beyond 12 in that day;
- Plus an average day’s pay, calculated as above.
The most common error we see is paying the premium and stopping. The premium pays for working; the average day’s pay is the holiday itself. Both are owed, and the calculator above shows the total in one figure.
Which days are statutory holidays in B.C.
There are eleven: New Year’s Day, Family Day, Good Friday, Victoria Day, Canada Day, B.C. Day, Labour Day, National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Thanksgiving Day, Remembrance Day and Christmas Day. Boxing Day, Easter Sunday and Easter Monday are not BC statutory holidays, nor is a day an employer chooses to close; pay for those follows the contract or practice. This year’s dates, and the 2027 table, are in the statutory holiday pay guide. For 2027: New Year’s Day (Fri Jan 1), Family Day (Mon Feb 15), Good Friday (Fri Mar 26), Victoria Day (Mon May 24), Canada Day (Thu Jul 1), B.C. Day (Mon Aug 2), Labour Day (Mon Sep 6), National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (Thu Sep 30), Thanksgiving (Mon Oct 11), Remembrance Day (Thu Nov 11) and Christmas Day (Sat Dec 25).
What this calculator leaves out, on purpose
Three things, because guessing at them would make the number less useful rather than more:
- Payroll deductions. Statutory holiday pay is ordinary employment income: income tax, CPP and EI come off it the same way they come off salary, and it lands on the T4 with everything else. The payroll deduction calculator handles that side.
- Averaging agreements and collective agreements. Either can set a different averaging period, and where one applies it governs.
- Federally regulated employers. Banks, telecoms, interprovincial trucking and the rest run on the Canada Labour Code, not the B.C. Employment Standards Act, and the general holiday calculation there is a different one.
If any of the three is in play, the arithmetic above is still the right starting point — it is the rule it sits under that changes.
Stat pay questions
How do you calculate stat pay in B.C.?+
How much is stat pay in B.C.?+
How do you qualify for stat pay in B.C.?+
Do sick days count towards stat pay?+
Is Labour Day a super stat in B.C.?+
What if the holiday falls on a day off?+
Is stat pay taxed in B.C.?+
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