Vacations and holidays for B.C. government employees

The number of vacation days available to you is based on the bargaining unit, your employment status and how many years you have been in the BC Public Service. For more, review annual vacation entitlement.

It's expected that all employees will schedule their earned vacation days and take them accordingly.

Each work unit has different operational requirements and processes for scheduling vacation. Talk with your manager or supervisor about how and when to schedule earned time off.

Review your leave balance in Employee Self Service:

• Employee Self Service: access from home (ESS) (IDIR restricted)
• Employee Self Service: access from work (ESS) (IDIR restricted)

Unused vacation

It's expected that all employees will take their vacation time annually. Vacation taken at the end of the year that overlaps into the new year counts as vacation entitlement from the year in which the vacation started.

Vacation carryover

• Bargaining unit employees in the BCGEU, PEA or BCNU can bank and carry over up to a maximum of 10 days (70 hours) of unused vacation. Vacation not taken that exceeds this amount is archived and may not be cashed out except upon resignation, retirement or termination. Refer to collective agreement provisions for complete details on vacation rules
• Excluded employees may choose to carry over unused vacation and/or have it paid out. Any previous vacation remaining at the end of the carry over year will automatically be paid out. Refer to Terms and Conditions of Employment for Excluded Employees and Appointees Part 08 –Vacation (PDF, 116KB) for complete details on vacation rules

Call back from vacation

Employees on vacation should only be asked to return to work when absolutely necessary; this means all alternatives are not feasible. An employee who obliges in this situation is offered the following compensation:

• Reimbursement for expenses incurred when travelling from where the employee is vacationing to the place of work; and, once work duties have been completed, returning to their vacation
• Where applicable, reimbursement for expenses incurred by the employee’s family when they must travel due to the employee being called back to work
• Travel time between the place of work and the employee’s location at the time of being recalled is not counted against any remaining vacation entitlement

PEA employees and excluded employees have the choice to be reimbursed as described above, or they can elect to gain an additional vacation entitlement of five working days instead.

To help you plan days off, see the calendar of statutory holidays.