Your Guide to The Employment Standards Act

This guide is a practical source of details about essential areas of the ESA. It is for your information and support just. It is not a legal document. If you require information or specific language, please describe the ESA itself and its regulations.

This guide should not be utilized 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 uncertain about anything in this guide, please speak with a lawyer.

Topics covered by the ESA?

These consist of:

benefit plans

bereavement leave

kid death leave

crime-related child disappearance leave

crucial disease leave

declared emergency situation leave

domestic or sexual violence leave

the employment requirements poster: distribution requirements

equivalent spend for equivalent work

family caretaker leave

household medical leave

family obligation leave

submitting a claim

hours of work, eating periods and pause

transmittable illness emergency situation leave

licensing – momentary assistance agencies and employers

lie detector tests

base pay

non-compete contracts

organ donor leave

overtime pay

payment of incomes

pregnancy and parental leave

public holidays

reservist leave

severance of work

authorized leave

short-term help companies

termination of employment and short-term layoffs

suggestions or gratuities

trip.

written policy on detaching from work.

written policy on electronic tracking of workers.

Reprisals are restricted

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

Clients of momentary help agencies are prohibited from penalizing task staff members in any way because the project employee worked out ESA rights.

Recruiters are prohibited from punishing potential workers who engage or utilize the recruiter’s services in any method for specific reasons, consisting of asking the recruiter to adhere to the Act or investigating about whether a person holds a licence as needed by the ESA.

Employers, customers of short-term assistance companies and employers who devote a reprisal can be:

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

– ordered to restore the staff member or assignment worker (if the reprisal was dedicated by a company or client of a short-lived help firm).

– bought to pay a charge.

– prosecuted.

Discover more about reprisals.

Greater right or advantage

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

No waiving of rights

No worker can accept waive or provide up their rights under the ESA (for example, the right to receive overtime pay or public holiday pay). Any such contract is null and space.

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 consist of:

– an order to pay.

– a compliance order.

– a ticket.

– a notice of breach with a financial penalty.

– an order to restore and/or compensate.

– prosecution.

Other workplace-related laws

The ESA contains just some of the guidelines affecting work in Ontario. Other provincial and federal legislation governs problems such as workplace health and safety, human rights and labour relations.

Related Ontario laws include the:

Occupational Health and Safety Act.

Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997.

Labour Relations Act, referall.us 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 offices consist of statutes on income tax, employment insurance and the Canada Pension.

For more details 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 employers in Ontario are covered by the ESA. However, the ESA does not apply to some individuals and the individuals or organizations they work for, such as:

– staff members and companies in sectors that fall under federal employment law jurisdiction, such as airlines, banks, the federal civil service, post offices, radio and television stations and inter-provincial railways.

– people working under a program authorized by a college of applied arts and innovation or university.

– individuals working under a program that is authorized by a career 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 runs the school in which the student is registered.

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

– authorities officers (except for the lie detectors arrangements 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 elected trade union workplaces.

– major junior ice hockey gamers who meet specific conditions connected to scholarships.

– individuals who fulfill the meaning of service expert or infotech consultant under the ESA if specific conditions are satisfied.

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

Employee misclassification

Employers are prohibited from misclassifying workers as independent contractors, 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 extra resources offered 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 analysis, administration and enforcement of the ESA.

– Staff at the Employment Standards Information Centre are available to address your questions about the ESA. Information is offered in many . You can reach the information centre from Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m.