Your Guide to The Employment Standards Act

This guide is a hassle-free source of info about crucial sections of the ESA. It is for your details and help just. It is not a legal document. If you require information or precise language, please refer to the ESA itself and its regulations.

This guide should not be used as or thought about legal guidance. You may have higher rights under a work contract, cumulative agreement, the common law or other legislation. If you’re uncertain about anything in this guide, please talk with an attorney.

Topics covered by the ESA?

These include:

benefit plans

bereavement leave

child death leave

crime-related kid disappearance leave

vital health problem leave

stated emergency situation leave

domestic or sexual violence leave

the work standards poster: circulation requirements

equivalent pay for equivalent work

family caretaker leave

household medical leave

family obligation leave

filing a claim

hours of work, eating periods and pause

contagious illness emergency leave

licensing – short-lived aid agencies and recruiters

lie detector tests

base pay

non-compete contracts

organ donor leave

overtime pay

payment of wages

pregnancy and parental leave

public vacations

reservist leave

severance of work

sick leave

temporary assistance agencies

termination of work and momentary layoffs

suggestions or gratuities

trip.

written policy on disconnecting from work.

written policy on electronic tracking of employees.

Reprisals are forbidden

Employers are restricted from penalizing workers in any method since the worker worked out ESA rights.

Clients of momentary aid companies are forbidden from penalizing task staff members in any method because the assignment worker worked out ESA rights.

Recruiters are forbidden from penalizing potential staff members who engage or utilize the recruiter’s services in any way for certain reasons, including asking the employer to comply with the Act or making queries about whether an individual holds a licence as required by the ESA.

Employers, employment customers of temporary aid companies and recruiters who devote a reprisal can be:

– bought to compensate the worker, assignment employee or potential employee.

– purchased to renew the employee or project staff member (if the reprisal was committed by a company or client of a short-lived aid firm).

– purchased to pay a penalty.

– prosecuted.

Learn more about reprisals.

Greater right or benefit

If a provision in a work agreement or another Act offers a worker a greater right or advantage than a minimum employment requirement under the ESA then that provision uses to the worker rather of the employment standard.

No waiving of rights

No employee can concur to waive or quit their rights under the ESA (for example, the right to get overtime pay or public vacation pay). Any such contract is null and space.

Enforcement and compliance

Violations of the ESA can result in enforcement action.

The kind of enforcement action that can be taken depends upon which provision of the ESA was contravened. Examples consist of:

– an order to pay.

– a compliance order.

– a ticket.

– a notification of conflict with a monetary charge.

– an order to reinstate and/or compensate.

– prosecution.

Other workplace-related laws

The ESA consists of just some of the rules affecting work in Ontario. Other provincial and federal legislation governs problems such as workplace health and wellness, human rights and .

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 affecting workplaces include statutes on income tax, employment work insurance and the Canada Pension.

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

– employees and employers in sectors that fall under federal work 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 innovation or university.

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

– secondary school students who work under a work experience program authorized by the school board that operates the school in which the student is enrolled.

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

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

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

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

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

– people who fulfill the meaning of business consultant or infotech expert under the ESA if particular conditions are fulfilled.

For a complete listing of other people not governed by the ESA, please examine the ESA and its policies.

Employee misclassification

Employers are prohibited from misclassifying staff members as independent specialists, 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 extra resources readily available to help you:

– The Employment Standards Act Policy and Interpretation Manual is the main referral 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 offered to answer your questions about the ESA. Information is offered in many languages. You can reach the details centre from Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m.