Your Guide to The Employment Standards Act

This guide is a hassle-free source of details about crucial sections of the ESA. It is for your info and help just. It is not a legal file. If you need information or precise language, please refer to the ESA itself and its regulations.

This guide must not be used as or considered legal guidance. You might have higher rights under an employment agreement, job collective arrangement, the typical law or other legislation. If you’re not sure about anything in this guide, please speak to a lawyer.

Topics covered by the ESA?

These include:

benefit plans

bereavement leave

kid death leave

crime-related kid disappearance leave

vital disease leave

stated emergency situation leave

domestic or sexual violence leave

the work standards poster: distribution requirements

equal pay for equal work

family caregiver leave

household medical leave

family duty leave

suing

hours of work, eating periods and rest durations

infectious illness emergency leave

licensing – short-term aid agencies and recruiters

lie detector tests

minimum wage

non-compete contracts

organ donor leave

overtime pay

of earnings

pregnancy and parental leave

public holidays

reservist leave

severance of work

authorized leave

momentary help firms

termination of work and temporary layoffs

suggestions or gratuities

trip.

written policy on detaching from work.

written policy on electronic tracking of workers.

Reprisals are prohibited

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

Clients of short-term assistance agencies are forbidden from penalizing task employees in any method due to the fact that the project staff member worked out ESA rights.

Recruiters are restricted from penalizing prospective employees who engage or utilize the recruiter’s services in any method for particular reasons, including asking the recruiter to abide by the Act or inquiring about whether a person holds a licence as needed by the ESA.

Employers, clients of momentary assistance firms and recruiters who devote a reprisal can be:

– ordered to compensate the worker, task employee or potential staff member.

– purchased to reinstate the worker or assignment employee (if the reprisal was committed by an employer or client of a short-term assistance company).

– bought to pay a penalty.

– prosecuted.

Find out more about reprisals.

Greater right or benefit

If a provision in an employment agreement or another Act gives an employee a greater right or advantage than a minimum employment standard under the ESA then that arrangement uses to the staff member rather of the work requirement.

No waiving of rights

No worker can accept waive or offer up their rights under the ESA (for instance, the right to receive overtime pay or job public holiday pay). Any such agreement is null and void.

Enforcement and job compliance

Violations of the ESA can result in enforcement action.

The type of enforcement action that can be taken depends upon which arrangement of the ESA was contravened. Examples consist of:

– an order to pay.

– a compliance order.

– a ticket.

– a notice of conflict with a monetary penalty.

– an order to restore and/or compensate.

– prosecution.

Other workplace-related laws

The ESA consists of just a few of the rules impacting work in Ontario. Other provincial and federal legislation governs issues such as workplace health and security, human rights and job 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.

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 affecting work environments consist of statutes on earnings tax, work insurance and the Canada Pension.

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

Who is not covered by the ESA?

Most employees and employers in Ontario are covered by the ESA. However, the ESA does not apply to some people and individuals or companies they work for, such as:

– staff members and employers in sectors that fall under federal employment law jurisdiction, such as airline companies, banks, the federal civil service, post workplaces, radio and tv stations and job inter-provincial railways.

– 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 profession 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 operates the school in which the trainee is enrolled.

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

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

– inmates participating 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 elected trade union offices.

– significant junior ice hockey players who satisfy certain conditions associated with scholarships.

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

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

Employee misclassification

Employers are forbidden from misclassifying staff members as independent specialists, 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 additional resources available to help you:

– The Employment Standards Act Policy and Interpretation Manual is the main recommendation 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 offered in many languages. You can reach the info centre from Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m.