Your Guide to The Employment Standards Act

This guide is a practical source of details about crucial areas of the ESA. It is for your info and support only. It is not a legal file. If you require details or exact language, please describe the ESA itself and its guidelines.

This guide needs to not be used as or thought about legal advice. You may have higher rights under an employment contract, cumulative agreement, the typical law or other legislation. If you’re not sure about anything in this guide, please speak with a legal representative.

Topics covered by the ESA?

These include:

advantage plans

bereavement leave

kid death leave

crime-related kid disappearance leave

important disease leave

declared emergency situation leave

domestic or sexual violence leave

the work requirements poster: distribution requirements

equivalent pay for equivalent work

household caregiver leave

household medical leave

family duty leave

submitting a claim

hours of work, consuming durations and pause

contagious illness emergency situation leave

licensing – temporary assistance firms and employers

lie detector tests

minimum wage

non-compete arrangements

organ donor leave

overtime pay

payment of wages

pregnancy and adult leave

public vacations

reservist leave

severance of work

sick leave

short-lived assistance agencies

termination of work and temporary layoffs

suggestions or gratuities

getaway.

written policy on detaching from work.

written policy on electronic tracking of employees.

Reprisals are prohibited

Employers are forbidden from penalizing staff members in any way since the worker exercised ESA rights.

Clients of temporary help companies are restricted from penalizing task staff members in any way because the project employee worked out ESA rights.

Recruiters are restricted from penalizing prospective staff members who engage or job utilize the employer’s services in any method for specific reasons, consisting of asking the employer to adhere to the Act or making inquiries about whether a person holds a licence as needed by the ESA.

Employers, customers of short-term help firms and employers who dedicate a reprisal can be:

– bought to compensate the staff member, task worker or prospective employee.

– purchased to restore the employee or task staff member (if the reprisal was devoted by an employer or client of a temporary help company).

– ordered to pay a penalty.

– prosecuted.

Learn more about reprisals.

Greater right or advantage

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

No waiving of rights

No worker can agree to waive or provide up their rights under the ESA (for example, the right to get overtime pay or public vacation pay). Any such agreement is null and job space.

Enforcement and compliance

Violations of the ESA can result in 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 notification of breach with a financial charge.

– an order to renew and/or compensate.

– prosecution.

Other workplace-related laws

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

To learn more 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 coverage and the Canada Pension.

For additional information about federal laws, call the Government of Canada info line at 1-800-622-6232.

Who is not covered by the ESA?

Most employees 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, job such as:

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

– people working under a program approved by a college of applied arts and innovation 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 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 neighborhood participation under the Ontario Works Act, job 1997.

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

– 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, religious or elected trade union offices.

– significant junior ice hockey gamers who fulfill particular conditions associated with scholarships.

– people who fulfill the definition of company specialist or infotech consultant under the ESA if particular conditions are fulfilled.

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

Employee misclassification

Employers are restricted from misclassifying workers as independent contractors, interns, volunteers or any other kind of worker not covered by the ESA.

Find out more about employee misclassification.

Additional resources

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

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

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