Your Guide to The Employment Standards Act

This guide is a convenient source of information about key sections of the ESA. It is for your information and assistance only. It is not a legal file. If you need information or exact language, please refer to the ESA itself and its guidelines.

This guide needs to not be utilized as or considered legal guidance. You might have higher rights under an employment agreement, cumulative agreement, the typical law or other legislation. If you’re not sure about anything in this guide, please speak to an attorney.

Topics covered by the ESA?

These consist of:

advantage plans

bereavement leave

child death leave

crime-related child disappearance leave

crucial disease leave

declared emergency leave

domestic or sexual violence leave

the work standards poster: circulation requirements

equivalent spend for equivalent work

household caregiver leave

family medical leave

household duty leave

suing

hours of work, eating durations and rest periods

transmittable disease emergency leave

licensing – short-term assistance agencies and recruiters

lie detector tests

minimum wage

non-compete contracts

organ donor leave

overtime pay

payment of salaries

pregnancy and parental leave

public holidays

reservist leave

severance of employment

ill leave

short-lived help agencies

termination of work and short-term layoffs

suggestions or gratuities

vacation.

composed policy on disconnecting from work.

written policy on electronic tracking of employees.

Reprisals are forbidden

Employers are restricted from punishing employees in any way because the employee exercised ESA rights.

Clients of short-lived aid companies are forbidden from punishing project workers in any method since the assignment worker exercised ESA rights.

Recruiters are restricted from penalizing potential workers who engage or use the recruiter’s services in any way for particular reasons, including asking the employer to abide by the Act or investigating about whether an individual holds a licence as needed by the ESA.

Employers, customers of short-lived aid agencies and employers who devote a reprisal can be:

– ordered to compensate the staff member, project employee or prospective staff member.

– purchased to restore the worker or project staff member (if the reprisal was dedicated by an employer or customer of a short-lived help firm).

– purchased to pay a penalty.

– prosecuted.

Discover more about reprisals.

Greater right or benefit

If a provision in an employment agreement or another Act offers a staff member a greater right or advantage than a minimum employment standard under the ESA then that provision applies to the worker rather of the employment standard.

No waiving of rights

No worker can consent to waive or quit their rights under the ESA (for instance, the right to receive overtime pay or public holiday pay). Any such contract is null and space.

Enforcement and employment compliance

Violations of the ESA can lead to enforcement action.

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

– an order to pay.

– a compliance order.

– a ticket.

– a notification of conflict with a monetary penalty.

– an order to reinstate and/or compensate.

– prosecution.

Other workplace-related laws

The ESA consists of only some of the guidelines affecting operate in Ontario. Other provincial and federal legislation governs issues 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.

Labour Relations Act, 1995.

Pay Equity Act.

Human Rights Code.

For additional information 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, work insurance and the Canada Pension.

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

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

– 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 career college registered under the Ontario Career Colleges Act, 2005.

– secondary school students 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 neighborhood involvement under the Ontario Works Act, 1997.

– law enforcement officer (except for the lie detectors arrangements of the ESA, which do apply).

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

– individuals who hold political, judicial, religious or chosen trade union workplaces.

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

– individuals who satisfy the meaning of company consultant or infotech specialist under the ESA if particular conditions are fulfilled.

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

Employee misclassification

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

Discover more about worker misclassification.

Additional resources

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

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

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