Your Guide to The Employment Standards Act

This guide is a hassle-free source of information about key areas of the ESA. It is for your information and assistance just. It is not a legal file. If you need information or exact language, please refer to the ESA itself and its regulations.

This guide ought to not be used as or considered legal suggestions. You might 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 to a legal representative.

Topics covered by the ESA?

These consist of:

advantage plans

bereavement leave

child death leave

crime-related child disappearance leave

critical health problem leave

declared emergency leave

domestic or sexual violence leave

the employment standards poster: distribution requirements

equal pay for equal work

family caregiver leave

family medical leave

household obligation leave

suing

hours of work, consuming periods and pause

infectious illness emergency leave

licensing – momentary assistance agencies and recruiters

lie detector tests

base pay

non-compete agreements

organ donor leave

overtime pay

payment of earnings

pregnancy and parental leave

public holidays

reservist leave

severance of work

authorized leave

short-lived help firms

termination of employment and momentary layoffs

pointers or gratuities

vacation.

written policy on disconnecting from work.

written policy on electronic monitoring of staff members.

Reprisals are restricted

Employers are restricted from punishing workers in any method due to the fact that the staff member exercised ESA rights.

Clients of temporary aid agencies are forbidden from penalizing task staff members in any way due to the fact that the assignment staff member worked out ESA rights.

Recruiters are restricted from punishing prospective staff members who engage or utilize the recruiter’s services in any method for specific factors, including asking the recruiter to comply with the Act or making questions about whether a person holds a licence as required by the ESA.

Employers, customers of temporary help companies and employers who commit a reprisal can be:

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

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

– ordered to pay a charge.

– prosecuted.

Learn more about reprisals.

Greater right or advantage

If an arrangement in an employment agreement or another Act gives an employee a greater right or advantage than a minimum work requirement under the ESA then that arrangement uses to the worker rather of the work standard.

No waiving of rights

No staff member can consent to waive or offer up their rights under the ESA (for example, the right to receive overtime pay or public holiday pay). Any such agreement is null and space.

Enforcement and compliance

Violations of the ESA can lead to enforcement action.

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

– an order to pay.

– a compliance order.

– a ticket.

– a notice of conflict with a monetary charge.

– an order to reinstate and/or compensate.

– prosecution.

Other workplace-related laws

The ESA contains just some 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:

And Wellness 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 offices include statutes on earnings tax, employment insurance and the Canada Pension.

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

Who is not covered by the ESA?

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

– employees and employers in sectors that fall under federal employment law jurisdiction, such as airlines, banks, the federal civil service, post offices, radio and tv stations and inter-provincial trains.

– people 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 career college signed up under the Ontario Career Colleges Act, 2005.

– secondary school students who work under a work experience program authorized by the school board that operates the school in which the trainee is enrolled.

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

– cops officers (except for the lie detectors arrangements of the ESA, which do apply).

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

– individuals who hold political, judicial, spiritual or elected trade union offices.

– significant junior ice hockey gamers who meet certain conditions associated with scholarships.

– people who meet the definition of organization expert or infotech specialist under the ESA if particular conditions are fulfilled.

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

Employee misclassification

Employers are forbidden from misclassifying employees as independent professionals, referall.us interns, volunteers or any other type of worker not covered by the ESA.

Find out more about staff member misclassification.

Additional resources

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

– The Employment Standards Act Policy and Interpretation Manual is the primary 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 offered to address your questions about the ESA. Information is offered in lots of languages. You can reach the details centre from Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m.