Your Guide to The Employment Standards Act

This guide is a hassle-free source of info about crucial areas of the ESA. It is for your information and assistance just. It is not a legal document. If you require details or precise language, please describe the ESA itself and its regulations.

This guide must not be used as or considered legal guidance. You might have higher rights under an employment agreement, cumulative arrangement, the common law or employment other legislation. If you’re not sure about anything in this guide, please talk to a legal representative.

Topics covered by the ESA?

These include:

benefit plans

bereavement leave

child death leave

crime-related kid disappearance leave

critical illness leave

declared emergency leave

domestic or sexual violence leave

the work requirements poster: circulation requirements

equivalent spend for equivalent work

family caretaker leave

family medical leave

family responsibility leave

suing

hours of work, consuming durations and pause

infectious illness emergency situation leave

licensing – temporary assistance firms and recruiters

lie detector tests

minimum wage

non-compete contracts

organ donor leave

overtime pay

payment of salaries

pregnancy and parental leave

public vacations

reservist leave

severance of work

authorized leave

short-lived aid firms

termination of employment and momentary layoffs

ideas or gratuities

vacation.

written policy on detaching from work.

written policy on electronic tracking of workers.

Reprisals are restricted

Employers are forbidden from penalizing workers in any way since the worker worked out ESA rights.

Clients of short-term assistance companies are prohibited from penalizing assignment workers in any way since the project worker exercised ESA rights.

Recruiters are restricted from penalizing prospective staff members who engage or use the employer’s services in any way for particular factors, including asking the recruiter to abide by the Act or investigating about whether a person holds a licence as needed by the ESA.

Employers, clients of temporary assistance firms and recruiters who dedicate a reprisal can be:

– ordered to compensate the staff member, task worker or potential worker.

– ordered to restore the staff member or project worker (if the reprisal was devoted by a company or client of a short-term assistance company).

– ordered to pay a penalty.

– prosecuted.

Find out more about reprisals.

Greater right or benefit

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

No waiving of rights

No employee can consent to waive or give up their rights under the ESA (for example, the right to receive overtime pay or public holiday pay). Any such contract is null and void.

Enforcement 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 consist of:

– an order to pay.

– a compliance order.

– a ticket.

– a notice of conflict with a monetary charge.

– an order to renew and/or compensate.

– prosecution.

Other workplace-related laws

The ESA contains just a few of the guidelines affecting operate 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 Wellness Act.

Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997.

Labour Relations Act, 1995.

Pay Equity Act.

Human Rights Code.

For more information about other Ontario laws, contact ServiceOntario:

– Tel: 416-326-1234 (in Toronto).

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

– online at ServiceOntario.ca.

Federal laws affecting work environments include statutes on income tax, employment insurance and the Canada Pension Plan.

For more details about federal laws, call the Government of Canada info 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 apply to some individuals 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, the federal civil service, post offices, radio and employment television stations and inter-provincial trains.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

– major junior ice hockey players who meet certain conditions connected to scholarships.

– individuals who meet the definition of service specialist or infotech consultant under the ESA if specific conditions are fulfilled.

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

Employee misclassification

Employers are prohibited from misclassifying workers as independent contractors, interns, volunteers or any other type of employee 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 extra resources offered 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 appreciating the interpretation, administration and enforcement of the ESA.

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