Your Guide to The Employment Standards Act

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

This guide should not be utilized as or thought about legal advice. You might have greater rights under an employment agreement, collective contract, 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 consist of:

benefit strategies

bereavement leave

kid death leave

crime-related kid disappearance leave

crucial health problem leave

declared emergency leave

domestic or sexual violence leave

the employment requirements poster: distribution requirements

equal spend for equal work

household caretaker leave

household medical leave

family responsibility leave

suing

hours of work, eating periods and rest durations

infectious illness emergency situation leave

licensing – temporary assistance agencies and employers

lie detector tests

base pay

non-compete arrangements

organ donor leave

overtime pay

payment of incomes

pregnancy and parental leave

public vacations

reservist leave

severance of work

sick leave

short-term aid agencies

termination of work and momentary layoffs

suggestions or gratuities

holiday.

composed policy on disconnecting from work.

composed policy on electronic tracking of staff members.

Reprisals are prohibited

Employers are prohibited from penalizing employees in any method since the employee exercised ESA rights.

Clients of momentary assistance companies are restricted from penalizing assignment employees in any method because the assignment worker exercised ESA rights.

Recruiters are prohibited from punishing prospective staff members who engage or use the employer’s services in any way for certain reasons, consisting of asking the employer to adhere to the Act or inquiring about whether an individual holds a licence as required by the ESA.

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

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

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

– purchased to pay a penalty.

– prosecuted.

Learn more about reprisals.

Greater right or benefit

If a provision in an employment agreement or another Act gives an employee a higher right or advantage 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 staff member can accept waive or quit 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 kind 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 contravention with a monetary penalty.

– an order to restore and/or compensate.

– prosecution.

Other workplace-related laws

The ESA includes only some of the rules affecting operate in Ontario. Other provincial and federal legislation governs problems such as workplace health and security, human rights and labour relations.

Related Ontario laws include the:

Occupational Health and Safety Act.

Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, employment 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 affecting workplaces consist of statutes on earnings tax, employment insurance coverage and the Canada Pension Plan.

For more 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 companies in Ontario are covered by the ESA. However, the ESA does not apply to some people and the people or companies they work for, employment such as:

– staff members and employers in sectors that fall under federal employment 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 approved by a college of used arts and employment technology or university.

– people working under a program that is authorized by a career 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 trainee is enrolled.

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

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

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

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

– major junior ice hockey players who satisfy particular conditions related to scholarships.

– individuals who fulfill the definition of or employment info technology specialist 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 employee not covered by the ESA.

Learn more about staff member misclassification.

Additional resources

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

– The Employment Standards Act Policy and Interpretation Manual is the primary reference source for 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 offered to address your questions about the ESA. Information is offered in many languages. You can reach the info centre from Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m.