Your Guide to The Employment Standards Act

This guide is a convenient source of info about essential areas of the ESA. It is for your info and assistance only. It is not a legal document. If you need information or specific language, please describe the ESA itself and its guidelines.

This guide needs to not be utilized as or thought about legal suggestions. You might have greater rights under an employment agreement, collective agreement, the common law or other legislation. If you’re uncertain about anything in this guide, please speak with a legal representative.

Topics covered by the ESA?

These include:

benefit strategies

bereavement leave

leave

crime-related kid disappearance leave

crucial health problem leave

stated emergency leave

domestic or sexual violence leave

the work requirements poster: distribution requirements

equivalent spend for equal work

household caretaker leave

household medical leave

family duty leave

suing

hours of work, consuming durations and rest periods

transmittable disease emergency leave

licensing – short-term assistance firms and employers

lie detector tests

minimum wage

non-compete agreements

organ donor leave

overtime pay

payment of salaries

pregnancy and parental leave

public vacations

reservist leave

severance of employment

ill leave

temporary aid firms

termination of employment and short-lived layoffs

pointers or gratuities

getaway.

composed policy on disconnecting from work.

written policy on electronic monitoring of employees.

Reprisals are forbidden

Employers are prohibited from penalizing workers in any method since the employee worked out ESA rights.

Clients of short-lived help agencies are prohibited from punishing project workers in any way because the project worker worked out ESA rights.

Recruiters are prohibited from punishing prospective workers who engage or utilize the recruiter’s services in any way for job specific factors, consisting of asking the recruiter to abide by the Act or inquiring about whether an individual holds a licence as needed by the ESA.

Employers, customers of momentary aid agencies and job recruiters who commit a reprisal can be:

– ordered to compensate the employee, task employee or potential worker.

– ordered to restore the employee or project worker (if the reprisal was dedicated by a company or client of a momentary help firm).

– bought to pay a penalty.

– prosecuted.

Discover more about reprisals.

Greater right or advantage

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

No waiving of rights

No staff member can accept waive or quit their rights under the ESA (for example, job the right to get overtime pay or public holiday pay). Any such contract is null and void.

Enforcement and compliance

Violations of the ESA can result in enforcement action.

The kind 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 notice of contravention with a monetary penalty.

– an order to renew and/or compensate.

– prosecution.

Other workplace-related laws

The ESA contains just some of the rules impacting work 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 Wellness Act.

Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997.

Labour Relations Act, 1995.

Pay Equity Act.

Human Rights Code.

For more details 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 and the Canada Pension Plan.

To learn more about federal laws, call the Government of Canada info line at 1-800-622-6232.

Who is not covered by the ESA?

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

– workers and employers in sectors that fall under federal work law jurisdiction, such as airline companies, banks, job the federal civil service, post offices, job radio and tv stations and inter-provincial railways.

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

– individuals working under a program that is authorized by a profession college registered under the Ontario Career Colleges Act, 2005.

– secondary school trainees who work under a work experience program licensed by the school board that operates the school in which the trainee is enrolled.

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

– police officers (other than for the lie detectors provisions of the ESA, which do apply).

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

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

– significant junior ice hockey players who fulfill certain conditions related to scholarships.

– individuals who meet the definition of company consultant or details technology consultant under the ESA if certain conditions are met.

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

Employee misclassification

Employers are forbidden from misclassifying staff members as independent specialists, interns, volunteers or any other kind of worker not covered by the ESA.

Learn more about employee misclassification.

Additional resources

In addition to this guide, the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development (MLITSD) has additional resources readily 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 enforcement of the ESA.

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