On June 21, 2021, Monkhouse Law has filed for an order to certify a class action lawsuit against Desjardins for their negative vacation bank policy and unauthorized deductions from wages at the end of employment.
The employee class action lawsuit alleges that Desjardins’ practice of making unauthorized deductions from wages as per the company’s negative vacation bank policy (the “Policy“) is in violation of employment standards.
Desjardins denies any liability and denies the truth of the allegations made against it.
On April 24, 2025, the representative plaintiff and Desjardins have reached a proposed settlement without admission of liability in this matter under which Desjardins will pay in excess of $7,000,000 to settle this lawsuit. These funds would be used to pay the claims of former employees of Desjardins with negative vacation balances who have left Desjardins.
If the settlement is approved, Desjardins will eliminate the negative balance of vacation hours advanced at the outset of employment under the Policy for any Current Employee of Desjardins by reducing the amount of the vacation bank hours advanced to the employee under the Policy to zero or providing a credit in the time management bank for the amount of hours repaid under the Policy.
The action was certified on consent for settlement purposes on May 28, 2025.
The Statement of Claim was issued on June 9, 2021 and the Court granted leave to amend the Amended Statement of Claim on May 28, 2025.
Updates
June 10, 2025:
The class administrator, Verita, sent the short form notice of certification to the emails provided by Desjardins. If you did not get a notice from Verita, it may mean that your email was not included in the information provided to the class administrator.
Please check your spam and junk folders.
June 9, 2025:
Press Release: Desjardins Negative Vacation Bank Class Action – Certified on Consent for the Purposes of Settlement
Verita has been appointed as class administrator. After September 29, 2025, and once the settlement is approved, claims for compensation will have to be made with the Class Administrator. The dedicated web page of the Class Administrator is: https://www.
May 28, 2025:
The Ontario Superior Court of Justice approved the certification of the action and notice to the class concerning the settlement approval hearing. The order is available here.
The short notice of certification and of settlement approval hearing is available here.
The long form notice of certification and of settlement approval hearing is available here.
The settlement between the parties without admission of liability is available here.
Any objections to the settlement should be made by July 14, 2025. The objection form is available here.
Any opt-outs of the class action should be made by July 27, 2025. The opt-out form is available here.
The hearing for settlement approval is scheduled for September 29, 2025 and the link for the hearing will be posted two weeks prior to the hearing.
May 21, 2025: The approval of notice hearing has been rescheduled for May 28, 2025 at 8:30 am.
May 5, 2025:
This case proceeding settled.
The certification on consent and approval of the notice plan is set for May 27, 2025 at 8:30 am.
The settlement approval hearing is scheduled for September 29, 2025.
The Endorsement of the Court is here.
April 14, 2025: The parties attended a case conference. A further attendance before the court is scheduled for May 5, 2025. See Endorsement here.
April 26, 2024: The summary judgment motion date scheduled for April 29–30, 2024 has been vacated on consent. See Endorsement here.
March 1, 2024: The summary judgment motion scheduled for March 7–8 has been adjourned to April 29–30, 2024. See Endorsement here.
On March 31, 2022, the case management judge decided that the Defendant’s summary judgment motion will be heard prior to certification. The decision is available here.
IMPORTANT – No action is required by employees to join this class action. In Ontario, class action lawsuits are an “opt out” system, so if this class action lawsuit is certified, all employees who fall under the class action definition will be members of the class unless they opt out.
Negative vacation banks
In Ontario, employees accrue entitlement to vacation as they work and after one full year of work, an employee is entitled to two weeks of vacation. However, many employers allow employees to take vacation time during their first year, which is then banked in a “negative vacation bank”. This “negative vacation bank” can then be paid off with either overtime work or deducted from wages at the end of employment.
According to section 13 of the Employment Standards Act, 2000, the only way that an employer is legally able to deduct money from an employee’s wages is if the employee has signed a written statement authorizing the deduction. The authorization must either specify the amount to be deducted or provide a method to calculate the amount to be deducted.
It is alleged that Desjardins has potentially been deducting the negative vacation bank from employee’s wages at the end of their employment without a signed authorization to do so. If true, this would be a contravention of the Employment Standards Act, 2000, under which they are regulated. If it was shown in court that Desjardins made these deductions, employees may be entitled to compensation for same.
Contact Monkhouse Law today
Former employees of Desjardins who have worked for Desjardins Financial Services Firm Inc., Desjardins Global Asset Management, The Personal Insurance Company, Desjardins Financial Security, Desjardins Securities Inc., Caisse Centrale Desjardins, Fédération des caisses Desjardins du Québec, Collabria Financial Services Inc., Desjardins Shared Services Group Inc., Desjardins Technology Group Inc., Desjardins Financial Security Life Assurance Company, and Desjardins Investment Product Operations Inc., and Assistel Inc. within Canada (excluding Quebec) since the year 2011 who have been or are currently subject to Desjardins’ negative vacation bank policy, may be included in this class action.
If you would like to learn more about this class action against Desjardins, or are a former/current employee with Desjardins, please contact Monkhouse Law at (416) 907-9249 or by email at
Verita has been appointed as class administrator. After September 29, 2025, and once the settlement is approved, claims for compensation will have to be made with the Class Administrator. The dedicated web page of the Class Administrator is : https://www.