Your Guide to The Employment Standards Act

This guide is a hassle-free source of details about crucial sections of the ESA. It is for your information and assistance only. It is not a legal file. If you require information or specific language, please describe the ESA itself and its regulations.

This guide should not be used as or thought about legal recommendations. You may have greater rights under an employment agreement, employment cumulative arrangement, the common law or other legislation. If you’re not sure about anything in this guide, please talk with a legal representative.

Topics covered by the ESA?

These include:

advantage strategies

bereavement leave

child death leave

crime-related kid disappearance leave

critical illness leave

declared emergency situation leave

domestic or sexual violence leave

the work requirements poster: distribution requirements

equal pay for equivalent work

family caregiver leave

household medical leave

family responsibility leave

filing a claim

hours of work, consuming durations and rest durations

infectious disease emergency situation leave

licensing – short-term aid companies and recruiters

lie detector tests

minimum wage

non-compete arrangements

organ donor leave

overtime pay

payment of incomes

pregnancy and parental leave

public vacations

reservist leave

severance of work

sick leave

temporary assistance agencies

termination of work and short-lived layoffs

ideas or gratuities

trip.

written policy on detaching from work.

written policy on electronic tracking of employees.

Reprisals are prohibited

Employers are restricted from punishing staff members in any way since the employee worked out ESA rights.

Clients of temporary assistance companies are forbidden from penalizing task staff members in any method because the assignment staff member worked out ESA rights.

Recruiters are from punishing potential staff members who engage or use the recruiter’s services in any method for certain factors, including asking the recruiter to adhere to the Act or investigating about whether an individual holds a licence as needed by the ESA.

Employers, customers of momentary help companies and employers who devote a reprisal can be:

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

– ordered to renew the worker or assignment worker (if the reprisal was committed by an employer or client of a momentary assistance firm).

– purchased to pay a penalty.

– prosecuted.

Find out more about reprisals.

Greater right or advantage

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

No waiving of rights

No worker can agree to waive or give up their rights under the ESA (for instance, the right to receive overtime pay or public holiday pay). Any such arrangement is null and void.

Enforcement and compliance

Violations of the ESA can result in enforcement action.

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

– an order to pay.

– a compliance order.

– a ticket.

– a notification of contravention with a financial charge.

– an order to reinstate and/or compensate.

– prosecution.

Other workplace-related laws

The ESA consists of only a few of the guidelines affecting operate in Ontario. Other provincial and federal legislation governs issues such as workplace health and security, 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 offices consist of statutes on income tax, employment insurance coverage and the Canada Pension.

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

Who is not covered by the ESA?

Most workers and companies in Ontario are covered by the ESA. However, the ESA does not apply to some people and individuals or organizations they work for, such as:

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

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

– individuals working under a program that is approved by a career 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 runs the school in which the trainee is enrolled.

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

– cops officers (except for the lie detectors provisions of the ESA, which do apply).

– inmates participating in work or employment rehabilitation programs, or people who work as part of a sentence or order of a court.

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

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

– individuals who satisfy the definition of company consultant or information innovation specialist under the ESA if certain conditions are satisfied.

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

Employee misclassification

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

Discover 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 help you:

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

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