First published here in the Nova Scotia Advocate on Mar. 31, 2021.  Updated on 27 March, 2024.

Here’s a joke:  in an adult English-as-a-second language class, the teacher asks the students to explain what Easter is. 

One student volunteered: “Easter is the time when the jolly fat man goes down the chimney.”  No that’s Christmas, said the teacher.

Another said, “It is the day to be thankful for the harvest and the food.”  No, said the teacher, that’s Thanksgiving.

A third student explained, ”It’s the day when they take Jesus off the cross, and they put him in a cave, and when they roll away the rock, if he sees his shadow, it’s six more weeks of winter.” 

Well, if you have no union, Easter holidays are little more than a joke in Nova Scotia. Good Friday (29 Mar.) is a public holiday, and also a retail closing day. That means you probably get the day off. But you only get paid for the holiday if

1. you have earned pay for the preceding 15 out of 30 days, and

 2. if you worked your regular shift the day before, and the day after the holiday.   

Good Friday is a retail closing day; that means grocery stores, clothing stores, malls, banks, credit unions, car showrooms, print shops — to name a handful– must close.  Convenience stores, smaller drug stores, gas stations, restaurants, cafés, bars and stores that cater to tourists can remain open. 

If you have to work Good Friday, your pay should be double time and a half

If you must work on Good Friday, and you qualify to be paid for the holiday, you will receive your regular day’s pay plus one and a half times your regular wages for the number of hours you work on that holiday. Let’s say you earn $20 an hour, and you qualify for the paid holiday. But your boss asks you to work.  Let’s say you work a full day, 8 hours which would be 8 x $20 = $160 in pay.  Plus another 1.5 x 8 x $20 = $240.00. Your total pay should be $160+$240 = $400.00. 

What about Easter Sunday?

Easter Sunday is also a retail closing day, but it is not a paid holiday. If you work at a large grocery or retail store yes it must be closed. You get the day off work, but you will receive no pay for the day off. And anyone who must work, for instance at a café or restaurant, receives no extra pay or time off if they work on Easter Sunday. 

Easter Monday is a holiday for many unionized employees, but not all. For example, schools, universities, public libraries, and some government offices will be closed Monday, and the workers will be given a day off with pay, according to their collective agreements.   

However if you work in a retail store, or an office, or a service– your workplace will be probably be open on Easter Monday. And it will be a regular day of work for you, at the regular rate of pay. Not a holiday. 

While some people get three days off work, few get paid for more than one day. This is what Easter really means – Good Friday is the one day off with pay (under certain conditions). 

For more about pay for public holidays, see NS Labour Standards Code Guide.

Image at the top: Hollowed Eggs for Easter, by Mary Pratt (1983). Mary Pratt was one of Canada’s great artists. In 2015, The National Gallery of Canada produced a nice 10 minute video interview with her here. This painting hangs in the Acadia University Art Gallery.