Skip to content

One Accounting

Vacation Accrual: The Benefits For Employers And Employees

Vacation-Accrual

This post will explain vacation accrual and discuss how small business owners can use it to increase employee well-being and retention.

What is Vacation Accrual?

Accrued vacation pay is the amount of vacation time that an employee earned in accordance with the employee benefits policy of a company but has not yet been used or paid.

For example, an employee could get 8 hours of paid time off every 2 weeks.

Canadian regulations and guidelines

The federal law governing employee vacations bound employers in Canada.

An employee is legally entitled to the following benefits when they have worked for you consistently for a full calendar year or a calendar year from the date of hire:

  • At least 2 weeks of vacation after completing one year of work
  • At least 3 weeks of vacation after completing five years of work
  • At least 4 weeks of vacation after completing 10 years of work

“The longer an employee stays in the same job, the more vacation time they’ll have earned.”

All provinces in Canada comply with the federal government’s minimum two-week vacation entitlement. Except Saskatchewan, where workers are entitled to at least three weeks of paid vacation.

Benefits for Employers

  • Companies may encourage a more focused and energized workforce by encouraging workers to use their accumulated vacation time.
  • Businesses can prevent huge payouts when workers take time off or quit by tracking vacation compensation as it is received.
  • Employers can minimize the possibility of fines and employee complaints by implementing a vacation accrual system.

Benefits for Employees

  • Better mental and physical health can result from their ability to relax spend time with loved ones, or engage in personal hobbies.
  • Employee morale and employer trust may both rise as a result of this transparency.
  • Employees who have accrued vacation pay have financial security during their time off.
  • Longer, more fulfilling careers may be influenced by their ability to collect and use vacation time.