Your Guide to The Employment Standards Act

This guide is a practical source of information about crucial sections of the ESA. It is for your info and assistance only. It is not a legal file. If you require details or specific language, please refer to the ESA itself and its regulations.

This guide ought to not be used as or considered legal suggestions. You might have greater rights under a work agreement, collective contract, the typical law or other legislation. If you’re unsure about anything in this guide, please talk to a legal representative.

Topics covered by the ESA?

These consist of:

advantage strategies

bereavement leave

kid death leave

crime-related kid leave

vital disease leave

declared emergency situation leave

domestic or sexual violence leave

the employment standards poster: distribution requirements

equal pay for equivalent work

household caretaker leave

household medical leave

household responsibility leave

suing

hours of work, eating durations and rest periods

contagious illness emergency situation leave

licensing – short-term assistance companies and recruiters

lie detector tests

minimum wage

non-compete contracts

organ donor leave

overtime pay

payment of wages

pregnancy and adult leave

public holidays

reservist leave

severance of work

authorized leave

short-term help companies

termination of employment and temporary layoffs

tips or gratuities

getaway.

composed policy on detaching from work.

composed policy on electronic tracking of workers.

Reprisals are restricted

Employers are forbidden from punishing employees in any method since the worker exercised ESA rights.

Clients of temporary help companies are forbidden from punishing task staff members in any method since the project staff member worked out ESA rights.

Recruiters are prohibited from punishing potential staff members who engage or use the employer’s services in any way for specific factors, including asking the recruiter to comply with the Act or making queries about whether an individual holds a licence as required by the ESA.

Employers, clients of temporary aid firms and employers who dedicate a reprisal can be:

– purchased to compensate the staff member, task staff member or prospective staff member.

– purchased to reinstate the employee or task staff member (if the reprisal was dedicated by a company or client of a short-lived help company).

– bought to pay a penalty.

– prosecuted.

Learn more about reprisals.

Greater right or advantage

If an arrangement in a work contract or another Act gives a worker a higher right or benefit than a minimum work requirement under the ESA then that arrangement uses to the worker instead of the work requirement.

No waiving of rights

No employee can agree to waive or offer up their rights under the ESA (for instance, the right to get overtime pay or public holiday pay). Any such agreement is null and space.

Enforcement and compliance

Violations of the ESA can result in enforcement action.

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

– an order to pay.

– a compliance order.

– a ticket.

– a notification of conflict with a financial charge.

– an order to renew and/or compensate.

– prosecution.

Other workplace-related laws

The ESA includes only some of the rules impacting work in Ontario. Other provincial and federal legislation governs issues such as workplace health and wellness, human rights and labour relations.

Related Ontario laws consist of 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 affecting workplaces consist of statutes on earnings tax, employment insurance and the Canada Pension.

For additional information about federal laws, employment 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 companies they work for, such as:

– employees and companies 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 trains.

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

– individuals 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 authorized by the school board that runs the school in which the trainee is registered.

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

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

– prisoners participating in work or rehabilitation 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 offices.

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

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

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

Employee misclassification

Employers are restricted from misclassifying employees as independent contractors, interns, volunteers or employment any other type 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 additional resources offered to assist you:

– The Employment Standards Act Policy and 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 available to answer your concerns about the ESA. Information is readily available in many languages. You can reach the details centre from Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m.