Canadian pay stubs: spot missing overtime under federal, Ontario and Québec rules
What pay stubs and employer time records must show in federal, Ontario and Québec regimes, how to check hours against the 40- or 44-hour threshold at 1.5×, and what to do when overtime lines are missing.
Your pay stub is the first audit
Most people look at net pay and file the stub. The stub (or the employer records behind it) is where missing overtime usually shows first: if you know which lines to compare to your real hours and to your jurisdiction's threshold.
Full walkthrough: read a Canadian pay stub and spot missing overtime.
What the stub / records must show
- Québec (LNT art. 46): a pay bulletin with enough detail to verify wages: including hours at the normal rate and overtime hours paid or replaced by time off with the applicable premium
- Federal: records of hours each day and amounts paid as overtime (Canada Labour Standards Regulations s. 24)
- Ontario: records of dates/times worked (ESA s. 15); hours over 44 must be recorded
Three checks against your threshold
- Total hours in the work week (and daily hours if you are federal).
- Hours above 40 (federal/Québec) or 44 (Ontario).
- Whether those hours appear at 1.5× (or as valid lieu time).
Example
Ontario stub shows 48 hours all at $22 regular = $1,056. Correct pay: 44 × $22 = $968 plus 4 × $22 × 1.5 = $132 → $1,100. Shortfall that week: $44. Over 30 similar weeks: $1,320.
When the stub is silent
Keep your own log and request employer records: employers must keep time records · prove hours without a timesheet.
From stub gap to claim
Once you have weeks and dollars, follow how to claim unpaid wages in Canada: remembering Québec's one-year clock is the tightest of the three.
Frequently asked questions
My stub shows “salary” only: is that OK?
Salary does not remove overtime for non-exempt employees. Compare hours to the statutory threshold anyway : salaried employees and overtime.
Where are the overtime rules themselves?
Related articles
- Errors on Your Pay Stub: What They Mean and How to Fix ThemOvertime paid at straight time, the wrong threshold, banked leave that never turned into cash, a missing holiday premium: the most common pay-stub errors all have a name and a remedy. Here is how to identify each one and the ladder of steps to get it corrected.
- How to Prove the Hours You Worked (Even Without a Timesheet)No timesheet? You can still build a strong record. Canadian law does not automatically reverse the burden of proof, but your employer's legal duty to keep hour-by-hour records is a powerful lever. Here is how to use it.
- How to Read Your Canadian Pay Stub and Spot Missing OvertimeYour pay stub is the first place unpaid overtime shows up, if you know where to look. Learn what your statement must contain by law, how to check that hours over the threshold are paid at 1.5×, and how to reconcile it against your own record of hours worked.
- Your Employer Must Keep Your Time Records: Here's How to Use ThatIn every Canadian regime, your employer is legally required to record your daily hours, your rate, and your overtime, and to keep them for years. Here is exactly what they must hold, and how to turn those duties into leverage for your claim.
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