Your Guide to The Employment Standards Act

This guide is a practical source of info about crucial areas of the ESA. It is for your details and support just. It is not a legal document. If you require details or exact language, please refer to the ESA itself and its policies.

This guide needs to not be used as or considered legal advice. You may have higher rights under an employment agreement, collective arrangement, the typical law or other legislation. If you’re unsure about anything in this guide, please talk with an attorney.

Topics covered by the ESA?

These include:

advantage plans

leave

kid death leave

crime-related kid disappearance leave

vital health problem leave

stated emergency situation leave

domestic or sexual violence leave

the employment requirements poster: distribution requirements

equivalent pay for equal work

family caretaker leave

family medical leave

family responsibility leave

suing

hours of work, consuming durations and rest durations

transmittable illness emergency leave

licensing – temporary help firms and employment recruiters

lie detector tests

minimum wage

non-compete agreements

organ donor leave

overtime pay

payment of salaries

pregnancy and parental leave

public holidays

reservist leave

severance of employment

ill leave

short-lived assistance companies

termination of employment and employment temporary layoffs

ideas or gratuities

holiday.

written policy on disconnecting from work.

composed policy on electronic monitoring of employees.

Reprisals are restricted

Employers are forbidden from punishing employees in any way since the worker exercised ESA rights.

Clients of short-lived help companies are restricted from punishing assignment employees in any method due to the fact that the project staff member worked out ESA rights.

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

Employers, clients of momentary aid companies and employers who devote a reprisal can be:

– ordered to compensate the employee, assignment employee or prospective staff member.

– ordered to renew the employee or project employee (if the reprisal was committed by an employer or client of a short-lived assistance firm).

– bought to pay a charge.

– prosecuted.

Discover more about reprisals.

Greater right or benefit

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

No waiving of rights

No employee can concur to waive or give up their rights under the ESA (for example, the right to get overtime pay or public vacation pay). Any such contract 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 notice of breach with a financial charge.

– an order to restore and/or compensate.

– prosecution.

Other workplace-related laws

The ESA includes just a few of the rules affecting work in Ontario. Other provincial and federal legislation governs issues such as workplace health and safety, human rights and labour relations.

Related Ontario laws consist of the:

Occupational Health and Safety 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 work environments consist of statutes on earnings tax, work insurance coverage and the Canada Pension Plan.

To find out more about federal laws, call the Government of Canada information 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 people and the people or organizations they work for, such as:

– staff members 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.

– people working under a program approved by a college of used arts and employment 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 trainees who work under a work experience program licensed by the school board that operates the school in which the trainee is registered.

– individuals who do neighborhood involvement under the Ontario Works Act, employment 1997.

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

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

– people who hold political, judicial, spiritual or elected trade union offices.

– significant junior employment ice hockey gamers who fulfill particular conditions related to scholarships.

– people who fulfill the definition of company specialist or details innovation specialist under the ESA if specific conditions are satisfied.

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

Employee misclassification

Employers are prohibited from misclassifying workers as independent contractors, interns, volunteers or any other type 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 additional resources readily available to help you:

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

– Staff at the Employment Standards Information Centre are readily available to address 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.