RBC faces another vacation pay class action

Another Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) division is facing a class action over allegedly unpaid holiday and vacation pay from advisors with RBC Insurance Agency Ltd. (RBC IA).

Earlier this year, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice certified a proposed class action against RBC Dominion Securities Inc. seeking vacation pay for the firm’s advisors and their assistants.

Now the same court has also certified a similar case against RBC IA on behalf of advisors in its property & casualty (P&C) division.

None of the allegations have been proven in either case.

The key issue in the newly-certified class action against RBC IA is whether the advisors’ variable compensation should be treated as wages for the purpose of calculating vacation pay.

While the firm’s advisors did receive holiday pay based on the salary component of their compensation, the question is whether they are also entitled to vacation pay in connection with their variable compensation.

“The P&C advisors allege that they were not paid vacation and public holiday pay on top of their variable compensation, in breach of the employment standards legislation of each of the seven provinces where they were employed,” the court noted in its decision.

Ultimately, the court certified the case as a class action, subject to certain modifications to the class definition and the proposed common issues.

James Langton

James is a senior reporter for Advisor.ca and its sister publication, Investment Executive. He has been reporting on regulation, securities law, industry news and more since 1994.