Your Guide to The Employment Standards Act

This guide is a practical source of details about crucial sections of the ESA. It is for your details 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 used as or considered legal advice. You may have greater rights under an employment agreement, employment collective arrangement, the typical law or other legislation. If you’re not sure about anything in this guide, please speak with an attorney.

Topics covered by the ESA?

These include:

benefit strategies

bereavement leave

child death leave

crime-related kid disappearance leave

crucial illness leave

declared emergency leave

domestic or sexual violence leave

the employment standards poster: distribution requirements

equivalent pay for equivalent work

household caregiver leave

household medical leave

family duty leave

submitting a claim

hours of work, consuming durations and pause

contagious illness emergency situation leave

licensing – short-lived aid companies and employers

lie detector tests

base pay

non-compete agreements

organ donor leave

overtime pay

payment of salaries

pregnancy and parental leave

public holidays

reservist leave

severance of employment

authorized leave

short-lived help companies

termination of work and short-term layoffs

ideas or employment gratuities

holiday.

composed policy on disconnecting from work.

written policy on electronic tracking of workers.

Reprisals are restricted

Employers are forbidden from penalizing staff members in any method because the worker exercised ESA rights.

Clients of momentary aid agencies are forbidden from punishing task workers in any method since the task staff member exercised ESA rights.

Recruiters are forbidden from penalizing prospective staff members who engage or use the recruiter’s services in any method for certain reasons, including asking the employer to abide by the Act or making inquiries about whether an individual holds a licence as required by the ESA.

Employers, clients of temporary aid companies and recruiters who dedicate a reprisal can be:

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

– ordered to renew the staff member or project employee (if the reprisal was devoted by a company or customer of a short-term assistance agency).

– purchased to pay a penalty.

– prosecuted.

Find out more about reprisals.

Greater right or benefit

If an arrangement in an employment agreement or another Act gives a worker a higher right or benefit than a minimum work standard under the ESA then that provision applies to the worker rather of the work requirement.

No of rights

No staff member can accept waive or employment give up their rights under the ESA (for example, the right to receive overtime pay or public vacation pay). Any such agreement is null and space.

Enforcement and compliance

Violations of the ESA can lead to enforcement action.

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

– an order to pay.

– a compliance order.

– a ticket.

– a notice of conflict with a financial charge.

– an order to renew and/or employment compensate.

– prosecution.

Other workplace-related laws

The ESA contains only some of the guidelines affecting work 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.

To find out more 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 income tax, employment insurance and the Canada Pension.

For additional information about federal laws, call the Government of Canada information line at 1-800-622-6232.

Who is not covered by the ESA?

Most workers and companies in Ontario are covered by the ESA. However, the ESA does not use to some individuals and individuals 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 railways.

– individuals working under a program approved by a college of applied arts and innovation or university.

– people working under a program that is approved by a career college signed up under the Ontario Career Colleges Act, 2005.

– secondary school students who work under a work experience program licensed by the school board that runs the school in which the trainee is registered.

– people who do community involvement under the Ontario Works Act, 1997.

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

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

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

– major junior employment ice hockey players who fulfill specific conditions associated with scholarships.

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

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

Employee misclassification

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

Discover more about worker 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 employment Interpretation Manual is the main referral source for the policies of the Director of Employment Standards respecting the interpretation, administration and enforcement of the ESA.

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