Wage Theft and Overtime Violations
If your employer is not paying you what the law requires, you can recover up to 36 months of unpaid wages.
Content last verified against official statutes: March 30, 2026
What the Law Says
CLC s.174 requires that overtime be compensated at not less than 1.5 times the regular rate of wages. If time off is given in lieu of overtime pay, it must be calculated at 1.5 hours of paid time off for each hour of overtime worked, not 1:1. CLC s.177 sets the standard work week at 40 hours; hours beyond that are overtime unless a modified work arrangement is in place. Under Part III of the Code, employees can recover unpaid wages going back up to 36 months.
What This Means for You
If you work more than 40 hours in a week, every additional hour must be paid at 1.5 times your regular rate. If your employer offers time off instead of overtime pay, that time off must also be at the 1.5x rate (for example, 4 hours of overtime entitles you to 6 hours of paid time off, not 4). Many employers get this wrong, either intentionally or through ignorance. You can recover unpaid overtime for up to 36 months retroactively.
What employers often do
Grant 1 hour of time off for every 1 hour of overtime worked (1:1)
What the law requires
Grant 1.5 hours of time off for every 1 hour of overtime worked (1.5:1)
Real Example
An employee tracked their hours and discovered that their employer had been granting time off in lieu of overtime pay at a 1:1 rate instead of the legally required 1.5:1 rate. For every 10 hours of overtime, the employee was receiving 10 hours of time off instead of the 15 hours required by law. Over two years, this amounted to hundreds of hours of unpaid compensation. The employee documented their actual hours worked using personal records, compared them against pay stubs and the employer's time-off records, and filed a complaint under Part III of the Canada Labour Code. The recovery period covered the full 36 months of back wages.
What You Can Do
- 1Keep your own records of hours worked, separate from your employer's system. Note start time, end time, and total hours every day.
- 2Compare your records to your pay stubs. Look for discrepancies in overtime calculation.
- 3If your employer offers time off in lieu, verify it is calculated at 1.5x (not 1:1).
- 4File a complaint under CLC Part III for unpaid wages. You can recover up to 36 months retroactively.
- 5Your employer cannot retaliate against you for filing a wage complaint (CLC s.246.1).
Warning Signs
- You regularly work more than 40 hours per week but your pay stub shows only straight-time wages
- Time off in lieu of overtime is offered at 1:1 instead of 1.5:1
- You are told overtime is "not approved" after you have already worked the hours
- Your employer asks you to work "off the books" or not log certain hours
- Your paycheque does not match the hours you actually worked
- Holiday pay, vacation pay, or statutory benefits are missing or miscalculated
- You are classified as a "contractor" or "independent contractor" but your work arrangement is effectively that of an employee
What to Document
- Your own daily record of hours worked (start time, end time, breaks, total)
- Pay stubs showing hours paid and rates applied
- Any employer communications about overtime policy, time-off-in-lieu, or working hours
- Time-tracking system exports from your employer's system (if accessible)
- Comparisons showing the difference between what you were paid and what the law requires
- Communications where you were told not to log hours, work unpaid, or that overtime was "not approved" after the fact
Where to File
Internal
- Written request to HR or payroll for correction of overtime calculation, citing CLC s.174
- Request an audit of your overtime records for the past 36 months
External
Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) — Labour Program
For unpaid wages complaints under CLC Part III. Recovery period up to 36 months retroactively.
Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB)
If you face reprisal for raising wage concerns.
Key Statutes
When Should You Contact a Lawyer?
This platform is designed to help you build your case independently — collecting evidence, documenting incidents, writing complaints in compliance language, and navigating the internal HR process. Many employees can handle these steps without a lawyer.
The most effective time to engage a lawyer is after you have completed the internal process and your employer has failed to resolve your complaint. At that point, a lawyer can review your complete file — your timeline, evidence, complaint, and the employer's response — and provide strategic advice before you file with an external body such as the CIRB, CHRC, or OPC.
By doing the groundwork yourself, your consultation becomes a focused strategic review rather than a costly fact-gathering session. This approach has been validated by employment lawyers who reviewed files prepared using this methodology and found the documentation thorough with nothing to add.
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MyWorkRights.ca, "Wage Theft and Overtime Violations," accessed 2026-04-01, https://myworkrights.ca/harassment/wage-theft
Written by the MyWorkRights.ca team, based on direct experience navigating the CIRB, OPC, and CHRC complaint processes and 500+ hours of employment law research.