(updated from the article in NSAdvocate.org here)

In Nova Scotia, Remembrance Day, has its own Act because it is not a “general paid holiday” under Labour Standards and it’s not a “designated closing day.”

Then what is it – apart from tributes to those who fought in World War I or II? It is a Punitive Holiday day because many Nova Scotians must forego pay. This coming week, your pay cheque may be 20% lighter than it was for last week. 

If you work in retail or in the service sector, tomorrow Tuesday, Nov. 11 will be a day off for you. That is because the law requires shops in malls, big box stores, major grocery stores, liquor stores and other retail venues to be closed. 

You get the day off – but without pay!

However on Remembrance Day, if you work at a bar –  keep in mind no establishment is allowed to serve liquor until after 12 noon that day– or a restaurant which can open all day, or if you work in a gas station, a shop with fewer than 3 staff, or a pharmacy – you may have to work Tuesday. If you do work, you get paid (straight time) for the day of work plus you get an extra day off with pay. That is only if you work Remembrance Day AND you worked for pay for 15 of the last 30 days.

Confused? You are meant to be…

Like the Labour Standards Act in Nova Scotia, the Remembrance Day Act is full of exceptions.

Farm workers are exempt, so are those who work in bakeries, fish and meat processing plants, dairy production, logging, aquaculture and even newspaper publishing. Of course hospital workers, teachers, civil servants, police and those who work in fire services are exempt too. But they have unions which often negotiate premium pay for their members who work Remembrance Day.

Example: If you work at any university in NS, the university will be closed for the day. But thanks to your union, you will still get paid.

If you’re lucky enough to be in a union or covered by a collective agreement, most collective agreements designate November 11 as a holiday like other statutory holidays. For example, if you work as a clerk at Saint Mary’s University, since November 11 falls on a Tuesday, the university is closed for the day. Thank your union for providing you with the day off with pay.

10:59 a.m. at Tim Hortons…

There is a small reprieve for everyone who does have to work on November 11—such as those who work in coffee shops like Tim Hortons. The act calls for your boss to “suspend operations for 3 minutes starting at 10:59 am on November 11”—that means you do get a 3-minute break. Still, it’s probably not long enough for you to drink a coffee. Read what happened when I visited one Tim Hortons on Remembrance Day.

Painting at the Top: Gas Drill, 1944 by Canadian war artist Molly Bobak (1920-2014). Gas Drill is in the collection of the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa. Bobak lived in Fredericton, NB, and taught at the University of New Brunswick; in 1995 she received the Order of Canada.