Your Guide to The Employment Standards Act

This guide is a convenient source of info about essential areas of the ESA. It is for your information and assistance only. It is not a legal file. If you require information or employment precise language, please describe the ESA itself and its regulations.

This guide needs to not be used as or thought about legal guidance. You might have greater rights under an employment agreement, cumulative agreement, the common law or other legislation. If you’re unsure about anything in this guide, please talk with an attorney.

Topics covered by the ESA?

These consist of:

advantage strategies

bereavement leave

child death leave

crime-related child disappearance leave

critical health problem leave

declared emergency situation leave

domestic or sexual violence leave

the work standards poster: circulation requirements

equivalent pay for equivalent work

household caretaker leave

household medical leave

household duty leave

filing a claim

hours of work, eating periods and pause

infectious disease emergency situation leave

licensing – short-term assistance firms and recruiters

lie detector tests

minimum wage

non-compete contracts

organ donor leave

overtime pay

payment of earnings

pregnancy and adult leave

public holidays

reservist leave

severance of employment

authorized leave

temporary aid firms

termination of employment and employment temporary layoffs

ideas or gratuities

vacation.

composed policy on detaching from work.

composed policy on electronic tracking of staff members.

Reprisals are prohibited

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

Clients of momentary assistance agencies are restricted from punishing assignment employees in any way because the task employee exercised ESA rights.

Recruiters are restricted from penalizing prospective staff members who engage or utilize the recruiter’s services in any method for specific 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 short-lived help agencies and recruiters who dedicate a reprisal can be:

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

– bought to reinstate the worker or assignment staff member (if the reprisal was devoted by a company or client of a momentary aid company).

– ordered to pay a charge.

– prosecuted.

Discover more about reprisals.

Greater right or advantage

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

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 holiday 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 upon which arrangement of the ESA was contravened. Examples include:

– an order to pay.

– a compliance order.

– a ticket.

– a notification of contravention with a monetary penalty.

– an order to renew and/or compensate.

– prosecution.

Other workplace-related laws

The ESA includes just a few of the rules impacting operate 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 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 impacting offices include statutes on income tax, work insurance coverage and the Canada Pension Plan.

For employment more info about federal laws, call the Government of Canada info line at 1-800-622-6232.

Who is not covered by the ESA?

Most workers and employers 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 trains.

– people working under a program approved by a college of applied arts and technology or university.

– people working under a program that is authorized by a profession college registered 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.

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

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

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

– people who hold political, judicial, spiritual or chosen trade union offices.

– major employment junior ice hockey gamers who fulfill particular conditions related to scholarships.

– individuals who satisfy the meaning of service consultant or infotech expert under the ESA if certain conditions are met.

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

Employee misclassification

Employers are prohibited from misclassifying workers as independent contractors, interns, volunteers or any other type 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 primary 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 concerns about the ESA. Information is available in lots of languages. You can reach the from Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m.