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 support just. It is not a legal document. If you need information or exact language, please refer to the ESA itself and its regulations.

This guide needs to not be utilized as or thought about legal recommendations. You may have higher rights under an employment contract, cumulative arrangement, the common law or other legislation. If you’re unsure about anything in this guide, please talk with a legal representative.

Topics covered by the ESA?

These include:

benefit strategies

bereavement leave

kid death leave

crime-related child disappearance leave

crucial health problem leave

stated emergency situation leave

domestic or sexual violence leave

the employment standards poster: distribution requirements

equivalent pay for equal work

household caregiver leave

family medical leave

household duty leave

submitting a claim

hours of work, eating periods and pause

transmittable disease emergency leave

licensing – short-lived assistance companies and recruiters

lie detector tests

minimum wage

non-compete contracts

organ donor leave

overtime pay

payment of salaries

pregnancy and adult leave

public

reservist leave

severance of employment

authorized leave

short-lived help firms

termination of work and short-term layoffs

ideas or gratuities

vacation.

composed policy on detaching from work.

written policy on electronic monitoring of workers.

Reprisals are forbidden

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

Clients of short-lived aid agencies are forbidden from punishing task workers in any method since the task worker worked out ESA rights.

Recruiters are restricted from penalizing potential staff members who engage or utilize the employer’s services in any way for specific factors, including asking the employer to abide by the Act or investigating about whether an individual holds a licence as required by the ESA.

Employers, customers of temporary help firms and recruiters who dedicate a reprisal can be:

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

– bought to reinstate the staff member or project employee (if the reprisal was devoted by an employer or client of a temporary assistance company).

– bought to pay a charge.

– prosecuted.

Learn more about reprisals.

Greater right or advantage

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

No waiving of rights

No staff member can accept waive or provide up their rights under the ESA (for example, the right to get overtime pay or public vacation pay). Any such arrangement is null and space.

Enforcement and compliance

Violations of the ESA can result in enforcement action.

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

– an order to pay.

– a compliance order.

– a ticket.

– a notification of breach with a monetary penalty.

– an order to restore and/or compensate.

– prosecution.

Other workplace-related laws

The ESA includes just a few of the rules impacting 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 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: 1-800-267-8097 (in the rest of Ontario).

– online at ServiceOntario.ca.

Federal laws impacting workplaces include statutes on income 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 staff members and companies in Ontario are covered by the ESA. However, the ESA does not apply to some individuals and the people or organizations they work for, such as:

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

– individuals working under a program approved by a college of applied 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 students who work under a work experience program licensed by the school board that runs the school in which the student is registered.

– people who do community participation under the Ontario Works Act, 1997.

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

– prisoners taking part in work or rehab programs, or individuals 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 fulfill specific conditions associated with scholarships.

– individuals who satisfy the definition of business consultant or details innovation expert under the ESA if particular conditions are met.

For a total 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 professionals, interns, volunteers or any other type of worker not covered by the ESA.

Discover more about worker misclassification.

Additional resources

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

– The Employment Standards Act Policy and Interpretation Manual is the main reference source for the policies of the Director of Employment Standards respecting the interpretation, administration and referall.us 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 numerous languages. You can reach the info centre from Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m.