Your Guide to The Employment Standards Act

This guide is a convenient source of details about essential areas of the ESA. It is for your information and help just. It is not a legal file. If you require details or specific language, please refer to the ESA itself and its policies.

This guide should not be utilized as or considered legal advice. You might have higher rights under a work contract, collective agreement, the typical law or other legislation. If you’re not sure about anything in this guide, please talk to an attorney.

Topics covered by the ESA?

These consist of:

benefit strategies

bereavement leave

child death leave

crime-related child disappearance leave

vital health problem leave

declared emergency leave

domestic or sexual violence leave

the work standards poster: circulation requirements

equivalent pay for equal work

household caretaker leave

family medical leave

family responsibility leave

suing

hours of work, eating durations and pause

contagious illness emergency leave

licensing – short-term assistance companies and recruiters

lie detector tests

base pay

non-compete agreements

organ donor leave

overtime pay

payment of wages

pregnancy and parental leave

public vacations

reservist leave

severance of work

authorized leave

short-lived assistance firms

termination of work and momentary layoffs

pointers or gratuities

getaway.

written policy on detaching from work.

written policy on electronic monitoring of employees.

Reprisals are prohibited

Employers are restricted from penalizing workers in any way because the worker exercised ESA rights.

Clients of short-term help firms are prohibited from punishing project workers in any method due to the fact that the project worker exercised ESA rights.

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

Employers, customers of short-lived aid companies and recruiters who devote a reprisal can be:

– purchased to compensate the staff member, assignment worker or prospective worker.

– ordered to renew the employee or task staff member (if the reprisal was dedicated by a company or client of a short-lived assistance firm).

– purchased to pay a penalty.

– prosecuted.

Discover more about reprisals.

Greater right or advantage

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

No waiving of rights

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

– an order to pay.

– a compliance order.

– a ticket.

– a notification of conflict with a financial penalty.

– an order to reinstate and/or compensate.

– prosecution.

Other workplace-related laws

The ESA contains only a few of the rules affecting work in Ontario. Other provincial and federal legislation governs problems 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: 1-800-267-8097 (in the rest of Ontario).

– online at ServiceOntario.ca.

Federal laws impacting work environments include statutes on earnings tax, work insurance and the Canada Pension Plan.

To learn more about federal laws, call the Government of Canada details 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, employment the ESA does not apply to some people and the people or companies 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 workplaces, radio and television stations and inter-provincial trains.

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

– individuals working under a program that is approved by a career college registered 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 trainee is enrolled.

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

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

– prisoners 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, spiritual or employment chosen trade union offices.

– significant junior ice hockey players who satisfy particular conditions related to scholarships.

– people who satisfy the meaning of company specialist or infotech expert under the ESA if specific conditions are fulfilled.

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

Employee misclassification

Employers are restricted from misclassifying employees as independent specialists, interns, volunteers or any other kind 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 assist 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 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 readily available in numerous languages. You can reach the info centre from Monday to Friday, employment 8:30 a.m.