Your Guide to The Employment Standards Act

This guide is a practical source of information about essential areas of the ESA. It is for your information and support just. It is not a legal file. If you require information or specific language, please describe the ESA itself and its policies.

This guide should not be utilized as or considered legal recommendations. You may have higher rights under an employment agreement, collective agreement, the common law or other legislation. If you’re unsure about anything in this guide, please talk with an attorney.

Topics covered by the ESA?

These include:

benefit plans

bereavement leave

kid death leave

crime-related child disappearance leave

crucial illness leave

stated emergency leave

domestic or sexual violence leave

the work standards poster: circulation requirements

equal spend for equal work

household caretaker leave

family medical leave

household duty leave

filing a claim

hours of work, eating periods and rest durations

contagious illness emergency leave

licensing – momentary assistance firms and employers

lie detector tests

minimum wage

non-compete contracts

organ donor leave

overtime pay

payment of earnings

pregnancy and adult leave

public holidays

reservist leave

severance of employment

authorized leave

short-term aid firms

termination of employment and temporary layoffs

pointers or gratuities

holiday.

composed policy on detaching from work.

written policy on electronic tracking of staff members.

Reprisals are forbidden

Employers are prohibited from punishing staff members in any method due to the fact that the employee worked out ESA rights.

Clients of short-lived assistance agencies are restricted from punishing assignment staff members in any method since the assignment staff member worked out ESA rights.

Recruiters are prohibited from penalizing potential workers who engage or use the recruiter’s services in any method for specific factors, consisting of asking the employer to adhere to the Act or inquiring about whether an individual holds a licence as needed by the ESA.

Employers, employment customers of momentary aid firms and recruiters who devote a reprisal can be:

– bought to compensate the employee, assignment employee or potential staff member.

– ordered to restore the employee or assignment worker (if the reprisal was devoted by a company or customer of a temporary aid agency).

– purchased to pay a charge.

– prosecuted.

Find out more about reprisals.

Greater right or benefit

If an arrangement in an employment contract or another Act offers an employee a higher right or advantage than a minimum employment requirement under the ESA then that arrangement uses to the employee rather of the work requirement.

No waiving of rights

No employee can agree to waive or quit their rights under the ESA (for instance, the right to get overtime pay or public vacation pay). Any such agreement is null and void.

and compliance

Violations of the ESA can lead to enforcement action.

The type of enforcement action that can be taken depends on which provision of the ESA was contravened. Examples include:

– an order to pay.

– a compliance order.

– a ticket.

– a notice of contravention with a monetary charge.

– an order to restore and/or compensate.

– prosecution.

Other workplace-related laws

The ESA contains only a few of the rules impacting work in Ontario. Other provincial and federal legislation governs problems such as workplace health and wellness, human rights and labour relations.

Related Ontario laws consist of the:

Occupational Health and Safety Act.

Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997.

Labour Relations Act, 1995.

Pay Equity Act.

Human Rights Code.

For more details about other Ontario laws, contact ServiceOntario:

– Tel: 416-326-1234 (in Toronto).

– Toll-free: 1-800-267-8097 (in the rest of Ontario).

– online at ServiceOntario.ca.

Federal laws impacting work environments consist of statutes on earnings tax, employment insurance coverage and the Canada Pension Plan.

For more information about federal laws, call the Government of Canada information line at 1-800-622-6232.

Who is not covered by the ESA?

Most workers and companies in Ontario are covered by the ESA. However, the ESA does not use to some people and individuals or companies they work for, such as:

– workers and companies in sectors that fall under federal employment law jurisdiction, such as airlines, banks, employment the federal civil service, post workplaces, radio and employment television stations and inter-provincial railways.

– people working under a program approved by a college of used arts and innovation or university.

– people working under a program that is approved by a career college signed up under the Ontario Career Colleges Act, 2005.

– secondary school students who work under a work experience program licensed by the school board that operates the school in which the student is registered.

– individuals who do community participation under the Ontario Works Act, 1997.

– law enforcement officer (other than for the lie detectors arrangements of the ESA, which do use).

– inmates taking part in work or rehabilitation programs, or people who work as part of a sentence or order of a court.

– people who hold political, judicial, spiritual or elected trade union workplaces.

– significant junior ice hockey players who satisfy particular conditions connected to scholarships.

– people who fulfill the meaning of organization consultant or details technology expert under the ESA if certain conditions are met.

For a total listing of other individuals not governed by the ESA, please inspect the ESA and its guidelines.

Employee misclassification

Employers are prohibited from misclassifying employees as independent contractors, interns, volunteers or any other kind of worker not covered by the ESA.

Learn more about worker misclassification.

Additional resources

In addition to this guide, the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development (MLITSD) has additional resources available to assist you:

– The Employment Standards Act Policy and Interpretation Manual is the main recommendation source for the policies of the Director of Employment Standards respecting the interpretation, administration and enforcement of the ESA.

– Staff at the Employment Standards Information Centre are readily available to answer your concerns about the ESA. Information is available in numerous languages. You can reach the info centre from Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m.