Your Guide to The Employment Standards Act

This guide is a convenient source of information about crucial areas of the ESA. It is for your details and assistance only. It is not a legal document. If you require details or specific language, please refer to the ESA itself and its guidelines.

This guide ought to not be used as or thought about legal advice. You might have greater rights under an employment agreement, cumulative arrangement, the common law or other legislation. If you’re uncertain about anything in this guide, please speak to an attorney.

Topics covered by the ESA?

These include:

benefit strategies

bereavement leave

child death leave

crime-related child disappearance leave

important health problem leave

stated emergency leave

domestic or sexual violence leave

the employment standards poster: circulation requirements

equal pay for equal work

household caregiver leave

family medical leave

family obligation leave

suing

hours of work, eating durations and pause

contagious illness emergency situation leave

licensing – temporary assistance firms and employers

lie detector tests

minimum wage

non-compete arrangements

organ donor leave

overtime pay

payment of salaries

pregnancy and adult leave

public vacations

reservist leave

severance of work

authorized leave

short-term aid agencies

termination of work and temporary layoffs

pointers or gratuities

getaway.

written policy on disconnecting from work.

written policy on electronic tracking of staff members.

Reprisals are restricted

Employers are forbidden from punishing staff members in any way due to the fact that the employee worked out ESA rights.

Clients of temporary assistance agencies are forbidden from punishing assignment employees in any way because the assignment employee worked out ESA rights.

Recruiters are forbidden from penalizing prospective staff members who engage or use the recruiter’s services in any method for particular reasons, consisting of asking the recruiter to abide by the Act or investigating about whether a person holds a licence as needed by the ESA.

Employers, customers of short-term assistance agencies and recruiters who commit a reprisal can be:

– bought to compensate the worker, assignment staff member or potential worker.

– purchased to renew the staff member or task worker (if the reprisal was dedicated by an employer or client of a momentary assistance firm).

– ordered to pay a penalty.

– prosecuted.

Learn more about reprisals.

Greater right or benefit

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

No waiving of rights

No staff member can consent to waive or quit their rights under the ESA (for example, the right to receive overtime pay or public vacation pay). Any such arrangement 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 upon which arrangement of the ESA was contravened. Examples include:

– an order to pay.

– a compliance order.

– a ticket.

– a notice of contravention with a monetary charge.

– an order to restore and/or compensate.

– prosecution.

Other workplace-related laws

The ESA consists of just a few of the rules affecting operate in Ontario. Other provincial and federal legislation governs issues such as workplace health and security, 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 additional information about other Ontario laws, contact ServiceOntario:

– Tel: 416-326-1234 (in Toronto).

– Toll-free: employment 1-800-267-8097 (in the rest of Ontario).

– online at ServiceOntario.ca.

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

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

– employees and employers in sectors that fall under federal employment law jurisdiction, such as airlines, banks, employment the federal civil service, post workplaces, radio and television stations and inter-provincial trains.

– people working under a program authorized by a college of used 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 authorized by the school board that runs the school in which the student is enrolled.

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

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

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

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

– significant junior ice hockey gamers who meet specific conditions related to scholarships.

– individuals who meet the definition of service expert or details innovation consultant under the ESA if certain conditions are fulfilled.

For a complete listing of other individuals not governed by the ESA, please check the ESA and its guidelines.

Employee misclassification

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

Discover more about employee misclassification.

Additional resources

In addition to this guide, the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development (MLITSD) has additional resources 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 available to address your concerns about the ESA. Information is offered in lots of languages. You can reach the info centre from Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m.