Your Guide to The Employment Standards Act

This guide is a convenient source of information about crucial areas of the ESA. It is for your information and employment help only. It is not a legal document. If you need details or precise language, please refer to the ESA itself and its guidelines.

This guide should not be used as or thought about legal suggestions. You might have greater rights under a work agreement, cumulative arrangement, the common law or other legislation. If you’re unsure 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 kid disappearance leave

critical disease leave

declared emergency situation leave

domestic or sexual violence leave

the work standards poster: distribution requirements

equal pay for equivalent work

household caretaker leave

household medical leave

family duty leave

suing

hours of work, eating durations and employment pause

contagious disease emergency leave

licensing – short-lived aid firms and recruiters

lie detector tests

base pay

non-compete agreements

organ donor leave

overtime pay

payment of incomes

pregnancy and parental leave

public holidays

reservist leave

severance of work

authorized leave

momentary help firms

termination of work and temporary layoffs

tips or gratuities

trip.

written policy on disconnecting from work.

composed policy on electronic tracking of employees.

Reprisals are restricted

Employers are prohibited from punishing employees in any way because the staff member worked out ESA rights.

Clients of momentary assistance firms are restricted from punishing task workers in any method since the project staff member worked out ESA rights.

Recruiters are prohibited from penalizing potential workers who engage or utilize the employer’s services in any method for specific reasons, including asking the recruiter to adhere to the Act or inquiring about whether a person holds a licence as required by the ESA.

Employers, clients of short-term assistance agencies and recruiters who devote a reprisal can be:

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

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

– ordered to pay a penalty.

– prosecuted.

Find out more about reprisals.

Greater right or advantage

If a provision in an employment agreement or another Act gives an employee a higher right or advantage than a minimum work requirement under the ESA then that arrangement uses to the staff member instead of the work requirement.

No waiving of rights

No staff member can consent to waive or give up their rights under the ESA (for example, the right to get 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 notification of contravention with a monetary charge.

– an order to restore and/or compensate.

– prosecution.

Other workplace-related laws

The ESA includes just a few of the rules affecting operate in Ontario. Other provincial and federal legislation governs problems such as workplace health and safety, 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 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 impacting work environments consist of statutes on earnings tax, employment insurance coverage and the Canada Pension.

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

Who is not by the ESA?

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

– employees and employers in sectors that fall under federal work law jurisdiction, such as airline companies, banks, employment 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 approved 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 operates the school in which the student is registered.

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

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

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

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

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

– individuals who satisfy the meaning of company expert or employment infotech specialist under the ESA if specific conditions are satisfied.

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

Employee misclassification

Employers are prohibited from misclassifying employees as independent specialists, 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 offered to help you:

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

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