Your Guide to The Employment Standards Act

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

This guide needs to not be used as or considered legal recommendations. You may have greater rights under an employment contract, cumulative contract, the common law or other legislation. If you’re unsure 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 child disappearance leave

vital health problem leave

declared emergency situation leave

domestic or sexual violence leave

the employment standards poster: distribution requirements

equivalent spend for equal work

family caretaker leave

household medical leave

family obligation leave

submitting a claim

hours of work, consuming durations and rest periods

infectious illness emergency situation leave

licensing – temporary aid agencies and recruiters

lie detector tests

minimum wage

non-compete agreements

organ donor leave

overtime pay

payment of wages

pregnancy and adult leave

public holidays

reservist leave

severance of work

ill leave

short-lived help agencies

termination of work and short-lived layoffs

pointers or gratuities

trip.

written policy on disconnecting from work.

composed policy on electronic tracking of employees.

Reprisals are forbidden

Employers are restricted from penalizing staff members in any method due to the fact that the staff member exercised ESA rights.

Clients of temporary help agencies are forbidden from penalizing task employees in any way because the assignment staff member worked out ESA rights.

Recruiters are prohibited from punishing prospective workers who engage or use the employer’s services in any method for particular reasons, employment including asking the recruiter to abide by the Act or investigating about whether a person holds a licence as needed by the ESA.

Employers, customers of short-term aid agencies and employers who dedicate a reprisal can be:

– purchased to compensate the worker, project worker or potential staff member.

– bought to reinstate the staff member or task worker (if the reprisal was devoted by an employer or client of a short-term assistance company).

– bought to pay a charge.

– prosecuted.

Find out more about reprisals.

Greater right or advantage

If a provision in an employment agreement or another Act provides a staff member a higher right or advantage than a minimum employment standard under the ESA then that provision applies to the employee rather of the employment standard.

No waiving of rights

No staff member can accept waive or provide up their rights under the ESA (for example, the right to get overtime pay or public holiday pay). Any such arrangement is null and employment space.

Enforcement and 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 include:

– an order to pay.

– a compliance order.

– a ticket.

– a notification of conflict with a financial penalty.

– an order to renew and/or compensate.

– prosecution.

Other workplace-related laws

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

Related Ontario laws include 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 impacting work environments consist of statutes on income tax, work insurance and the Canada Pension Plan.

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

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

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

– individuals working under a program that is approved by a profession college signed up 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 student is registered.

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

– law enforcement officer (except for the lie detectors arrangements of the ESA, which do apply).

– prisoners participating in work or rehabilitation programs, or individuals who work as part of a sentence or order of a court.

– individuals who hold political, employment judicial, spiritual or elected trade union offices.

– major junior ice hockey players who fulfill specific conditions related to scholarships.

– individuals who satisfy the definition of business consultant or infotech consultant under the ESA if certain conditions are satisfied.

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

Employee misclassification

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

Find out more about employee misclassification.

Additional resources

In addition to this guide, the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development (MLITSD) has additional resources offered to help you:

– The Employment Standards Act Policy and employment 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 offered to address your questions about the ESA. Information is available in lots of languages. You can reach the details centre from Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m.