Your Guide to The Employment Standards Act

This guide is a hassle-free source of info about essential areas of the ESA. It is for your info and help only. It is not a legal document. If you require information or exact language, employment please refer to the ESA itself and its policies.

This guide must not be used as or considered legal suggestions. You may have higher rights under an employment agreement, collective contract, the typical law or other legislation. If you’re not sure about anything in this guide, please talk with a legal representative.

Topics covered by the ESA?

These consist of:

benefit plans

bereavement leave

child death leave

crime-related child disappearance leave

crucial disease leave

declared emergency situation leave

domestic or sexual violence leave

the employment standards poster: circulation requirements

equal pay for equal work

household caretaker leave

household medical leave

family duty leave

submitting a claim

hours of work, eating periods and rest durations

contagious disease emergency situation leave

licensing – temporary help companies and employers

lie detector employment tests

minimum wage

non-compete contracts

organ donor leave

overtime pay

payment of incomes

pregnancy and parental leave

public vacations

reservist leave

severance of employment

authorized leave

momentary aid companies

termination of employment and temporary layoffs

pointers or gratuities

holiday.

composed policy on detaching from work.

composed policy on electronic tracking of employees.

Reprisals are prohibited

Employers are restricted from penalizing staff members in any method because the staff member exercised ESA rights.

Clients of short-term help companies are prohibited from penalizing task employees in any method due to the fact that the task staff member exercised ESA rights.

Recruiters are prohibited from penalizing potential employees who engage or use the recruiter’s services in any method for employment particular factors, consisting of asking the recruiter to adhere to the Act or making questions about whether an individual holds a licence as required by the ESA.

Employers, clients of temporary assistance firms and employers who commit a reprisal can be:

– purchased to compensate the employee, project employee or potential worker.

– purchased to renew the staff member or task worker (if the reprisal was dedicated by a company or client of a short-lived help firm).

– ordered to pay a charge.

– prosecuted.

Find out more about reprisals.

Greater right or benefit

If a provision in an employment agreement or another Act provides a worker a greater right or benefit than a minimum work standard under the ESA then that arrangement applies to the staff member instead of the work requirement.

No waiving of rights

No staff member can concur to waive or give up their rights under the ESA (for instance, the right to receive overtime pay or employment public holiday pay). Any such arrangement is null and void.

Enforcement and compliance

Violations of the ESA can result in enforcement action.

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

– an order to pay.

– a compliance order.

– a ticket.

– a notification of contravention with a monetary penalty.

– an order to restore and/or compensate.

– prosecution.

Other workplace-related laws

The ESA includes just a few of the guidelines 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 include the:

Occupational Health and Safety Act.

Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997.

Act, 1995.

Pay Equity Act.

Human Rights Code.

For more info 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 affecting offices include statutes on earnings tax, employment insurance and the Canada Pension Plan.

For more details 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 individuals and individuals or companies they work for, such as:

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

– individuals working under a program authorized by a college of applied arts and technology or university.

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

– secondary school trainees who work under a work experience program authorized by the school board that runs the school in which the trainee is registered.

– people who do community involvement under the Ontario Works Act, 1997.

– policeman (except for the lie detectors provisions of the ESA, which do apply).

– prisoners participating in work or rehab programs, employment or individuals who work as part of a sentence or order of a court.

– people who hold political, judicial, spiritual or chosen trade union offices.

– major junior ice hockey players who meet certain conditions associated with scholarships.

– individuals who satisfy the definition of business specialist or infotech consultant under the ESA if particular conditions are met.

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

Employee misclassification

Employers are forbidden from misclassifying staff members as independent contractors, interns, volunteers or employment any other kind of worker not covered by the ESA.

Discover more about worker misclassification.

Additional resources

In addition to this guide, the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and employment Skills Development (MLITSD) has extra resources readily available to help you:

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

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