Your Guide to The Employment Standards Act

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

This guide should not be used as or thought about legal suggestions. You might have greater rights under an employment agreement, collective contract, job the typical 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:

advantage strategies

bereavement leave

kid death leave

crime-related child disappearance leave

vital illness leave

stated emergency situation leave

domestic or sexual violence leave

the work standards poster: job circulation requirements

equal pay for equivalent work

family caregiver leave

family medical leave

family responsibility leave

suing

hours of work, consuming durations and pause

contagious disease emergency leave

licensing – momentary help firms and employers

lie detector tests

minimum wage

non-compete contracts

organ donor job leave

overtime pay

payment of incomes

pregnancy and adult leave

public vacations

reservist leave

severance of employment

ill leave

short-lived help firms

termination of employment and short-lived layoffs

suggestions or job gratuities

vacation.

composed policy on disconnecting from work.

composed policy on electronic tracking of staff members.

Reprisals are forbidden

Employers are forbidden from punishing workers in any way since the staff member exercised ESA rights.

Clients of momentary help firms are prohibited from penalizing assignment employees in any method because the project staff member worked out ESA rights.

Recruiters are forbidden from penalizing prospective staff members who engage or utilize the employer’s services in any method for certain reasons, consisting of asking the employer to comply with the Act or inquiring about whether a person holds a licence as needed by the ESA.

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

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

– ordered to restore the employee or task worker (if the reprisal was committed by an employer or customer of a short-term assistance firm).

– bought to pay a penalty.

– prosecuted.

Find out more about reprisals.

Greater right or advantage

If a provision in a work agreement or another Act provides an employee a higher right or advantage than a minimum employment requirement under the ESA then that arrangement applies to the employee rather of the employment requirement.

No waiving of rights

No worker can accept waive or quit their rights under the ESA (for instance, the right to get overtime pay or public vacation pay). Any such arrangement is null and space.

Enforcement and compliance

Violations of the ESA can lead to 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 reinstate and/or compensate.

– prosecution.

Other workplace-related laws

The ESA includes just a few 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 consist of the:

Occupational Health and Safety Act.

Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997.

Labour Relations Act, 1995.

Pay Equity Act.

Human Rights Code.

To find out more about other Ontario laws, job 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 income tax, employment insurance coverage and the Canada Pension.

To find out more 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 individuals or organizations they work for, such as:

– employees and employers 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 approved by a college of applied arts and technology 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 students who work under a work authorized by the school board that operates the school in which the trainee is enrolled.

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

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

– inmates taking part in work or rehab 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 workplaces.

– major junior ice hockey gamers who satisfy specific conditions related to scholarships.

– people who satisfy the meaning of organization consultant or job info technology consultant under the ESA if particular conditions are fulfilled.

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

Employee misclassification

Employers are prohibited from misclassifying employees as independent professionals, interns, volunteers or any other kind of employee not covered by the ESA.

Discover more about staff member misclassification.

Additional resources

In addition to this guide, the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and job Skills Development (MLITSD) has extra resources 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 analysis, administration and enforcement of the ESA.

– Staff at the Employment Standards Information Centre are offered to answer your concerns about the ESA. Information is readily available in lots of languages. You can reach the info centre from Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m.