Prince Edward Island Overtime Pay Calculator

PEI replaced its entire Employment Standards Act in June 2026

Section 15(1) of the new Act: "Except as otherwise specified by order of the Board and subject to any averaging agreement, the standard number of hours of work of an employee in a work week is 44 hours."

Section 24(1) sets the rate: "an employer shall pay an employee at the rate of one and one-half times the employee's regular wage rate for each overtime hour." And "regular wage rate" is defined in s. 1(1)(s) as "an employee's wage rate for an hour of work performed … within the employee's standard weekly hours" — so the base is your own straight-time rate for your first 44 hours.

Unlike Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Newfoundland, PEI has no minimum-wage substitution anywhere in its overtime provisions. Your rate is your rate.

There is no daily overtime in PEI

Overtime is defined in s. 1(1)(m) purely by reference to the week: "an hour of work performed by an employee for an employer in a work week, in excess of the employee's standard weekly hours." Part 3 of the Act contains only three sections — standard weekly hours, work schedules, and rest — and none of them triggers overtime pay on a daily basis.

Section 17 does provide real daily protections, but they are rest entitlements rather than pay triggers: 24 consecutive hours of unpaid rest each week, 8 consecutive hours of unpaid rest in each 24-hour period, split shifts completed within 12 hours of starting, and a 30-minute unpaid break at intervals of no more than 5 consecutive hours.

Averaging agreements — new, and tightly specified

Section 25 introduces formal averaging agreements, which did not exist in this form under the old Act. Hours may be averaged over two to four weeks, with overtime owed on anything beyond an average of 44 hours a week across the period.

The validity requirements are strict. The agreement must state the weeks covered, the start and expiry dates, the daily work schedule and how many times it may be renewed; it must be signed by both parties; and you must receive a copy before the start date (s. 25(2)). The schedule may be amended only if the total scheduled hours stay the same (s. 25(3)), and the employer cannot schedule more than an average of 44 hours a week in the first place (s. 25(4)).

Section 25(6) adds a protection with no equivalent in most provinces: if an averaging agreement leaves you with fewer than 36 consecutive hours of rest in a week, the hours you worked instead of that rest are paid at 1.5×.

Agreements must be retained for four years after expiry (s. 25(8)).

Banking overtime — your election, not your employer's

Section 24(2) lets you take 1.5 hours of paid time off for each overtime hour instead of pay. Two things about it are worth knowing:

• It is triggered by your written notice electing time off — an employer cannot impose banking on you.
• The time must be taken within three months of the end of the work week in which the overtime occurred (s. 24(2)(b)).

If your employment ends before you take it, s. 24(4) requires the unused balance to be paid out at the 1.5× rate. Employers must also record overtime hours accumulated and used.

Who is exempt from overtime in PEI

PEI's exemption list is dramatically shorter than Nova Scotia's. From the Act itself, s. 3(3) removes Part 3 and ss. 23, 24 and 25 from:

• an employee whose principal employment responsibilities consist of supervising or directing human or other resources
• an employee employed in an executive role

From the Employment Standards Regulations (EC2026-653), s. 8:

• Salespersons whose income derives primarily from commission on sales — the Act largely does not apply
• Farm labourers in an undertaking the Board considers non-commercial
• Employees solely employed to care for a child, a person with a disability or an older person in a private home — s. 15 does not apply, so they have no standard weekly hours and therefore no overtime
• Employees of a non-profit required to live in a facility the organization operates
• Athletes

Section 15(2) also lets the Employment Standards Board issue Exemption Orders setting a standard week above 44 hours for specified employers or classes of employee, taking into account the seasonal nature of the work, health and safety, and customary industry schedules. Such orders exist for particular sectors, but PEI does not publish the list — its guidance directs enquiries to the Labour and Industrial Relations Branch. If you work in construction, trucking, farming or seasonal processing, check with the Branch on 902-368-5550 before relying on the 44-hour figure.

If you are owed unpaid overtime in PEI

The new Act expanded the window dramatically. Both the filing deadline and the recovery period are now two years:

• Filing. Section 64(2): "A complaint shall be delivered to the chief inspector within two years of the date of the alleged contravention."
• Recovery. Section 72(1): an inspector may order remedies for a contravention "within the two years preceding the filing of a complaint or the facts … otherwise coming to the knowledge of the inspector."

Remedies include payment of amounts owing with interest, the costs of the investigation, and administrative penalties. Payroll records must be retained for 36 months.

For context, that is four times Nova Scotia's six-month window, on an island a ferry ride away.