Your Guide to The Employment Standards Act

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

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

Topics covered by the ESA?

These consist of:

benefit plans

bereavement leave

child death leave

crime-related kid disappearance leave

crucial disease leave

declared emergency leave

domestic or sexual violence leave

the employment standards poster: circulation requirements

equal pay for equal work

household caretaker leave

family medical leave

household obligation leave

filing a claim

hours of work, eating periods and pause

contagious disease emergency leave

licensing – momentary aid agencies and recruiters

lie detector tests

minimum wage

non-compete arrangements

organ donor leave

overtime pay

payment of wages

pregnancy and parental leave

public holidays

reservist leave

severance of employment

sick leave

temporary help companies

termination of employment and short-term layoffs

pointers or gratuities

getaway.

written policy on disconnecting from work.

composed policy on electronic tracking of staff members.

Reprisals are restricted

Employers are forbidden from punishing employees in any method because the staff member exercised ESA rights.

Clients of momentary aid companies are prohibited from penalizing project staff members in any way because the task worker exercised ESA rights.

Recruiters are restricted from punishing potential staff members who engage or utilize the employer’s services in any method for somalibidders.com certain factors, consisting of asking the recruiter to abide by the Act or inquiring about whether an individual holds a licence as required by the ESA.

Employers, customers of short-lived assistance agencies and recruiters who dedicate a reprisal can be:

– bought to compensate the worker, project employee or potential employee.

– purchased to reinstate the worker or project worker (if the reprisal was dedicated by a company or customer of a temporary help company).

– bought to pay a charge.

– prosecuted.

Learn more about reprisals.

Greater right or benefit

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

No waiving of rights

No staff member can consent to waive or give up their rights under the ESA (for instance, the right to get overtime pay or public holiday pay). Any such contract is null and space.

Enforcement and compliance

Violations of the ESA can result in enforcement action.

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

– an order to pay.

– a compliance order.

– a ticket.

– a notice of conflict with a monetary charge.

– an order to renew and/or compensate.

– prosecution.

Other workplace-related laws

The ESA contains only 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 labour relations.

Related Ontario laws include the:

Occupational Health and referall.us Safety 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 affecting work environments include statutes on income tax, employment insurance coverage and the Canada Pension.

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

– workers and companies in sectors that fall under federal employment law jurisdiction, such as airline companies, banks, the federal civil service, post offices, radio and television stations and inter-provincial trains.

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

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

– authorities officers (other than for the lie detectors provisions 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.

– individuals who hold political, judicial, religious or elected trade union workplaces.

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

– people who fulfill the definition of company expert or information innovation consultant under the ESA if specific conditions are satisfied.

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

Employee misclassification

Employers are prohibited from misclassifying employees as independent contractors, interns, volunteers or any other type of employee not covered by the ESA.

Discover more about staff member 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 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 readily available to address your questions about the ESA. Information is offered in lots of languages. You can reach the details centre from Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m.