February holiday will go ahead without amendments, despite calls for changes
Posted Dec 10, 2013 07:00:51 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Despite calls to change who gets the holiday, and even calls for an outright delay, Nova Scotia Labour Minister Kelly Regan says the proposed February holiday will go ahead without amendments to the legislation starting in 2015.
That’s disappointing news for some small business owners.
Specifically, it’s the service industry in Nova Scotia that has been the most vocal with it’s concerns.
Luc Erjavec with the Canadian Restaurant and Food Services Association says he understands everyone wants a day off with pay, but it comes with a cost.
“In this case, the new holiday comes with a cost and small business is going to pay the freight,” he said. “For our industry, it’s well over $2-million dollars a year for this new holiday.”
He says he’s talked to one owner who says he doesn’t mind paying the 15 employees who would work the holiday time and a half and giving them a day off.
“They say what’s really hard to stomach, is they have to pay the other 40 employees who aren’t even scheduled to work that holiday,” he explains. “So it’s a whole bunch of new costs during the slowest time of year which is really, really tough for our industry to juggle.”
He adds closing isn’t necessarily a good option either, especially since people expect restaurants and other service industries to be open on holidays, and they’re always going to try and do what the customer wants.
Erjavec explains having to pay minimum wage employees $30-an-hour on the holiday will make it nearly impossible for restaurants to make money, or even break even.
He says he asked for an amendment that would see only those scheduled to work the holiday compensated for doing so, but Minister Regan says that wouldn’t make it a statutory holiday.
