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 details and assistance only. It is not a legal document. If you require information or specific language, please refer to the ESA itself and its regulations.

This guide needs to not be used as or considered legal advice. You may have higher rights under a work contract, collective agreement, job the common law or other legislation. If you’re uncertain about anything in this guide, please talk to an attorney.

Topics covered by the ESA?

These include:

advantage plans

bereavement leave

child death leave

crime-related child disappearance leave

crucial health problem leave

stated emergency situation leave

domestic or job sexual violence leave

the employment requirements poster: circulation requirements

equivalent pay for equivalent work

family caregiver leave

household medical leave

household duty leave

suing

hours of work, consuming periods and pause

infectious illness emergency leave

licensing – short-lived aid agencies and employers

lie detector tests

minimum wage

non-compete agreements

organ donor leave

overtime pay

payment of incomes

pregnancy and adult leave

public holidays

reservist leave

severance of work

ill leave

short-lived assistance agencies

termination of work and momentary layoffs

pointers or gratuities

trip.

composed policy on disconnecting from work.

written policy on electronic monitoring of staff members.

Reprisals are prohibited

Employers are prohibited from penalizing staff members in any method because the staff member worked out ESA rights.

Clients of temporary assistance companies are forbidden from punishing project employees in any method since the assignment staff member exercised ESA rights.

Recruiters are prohibited from punishing prospective workers who engage or utilize the recruiter’s services in any way for certain factors, consisting of asking the recruiter to adhere to the Act or inquiring about whether a person holds a licence as needed by the ESA.

Employers, clients of momentary aid firms and job recruiters who commit a reprisal can be:

– purchased to compensate the employee, task employee or potential employee.

– bought to restore the staff member or assignment employee (if the reprisal was devoted by a company or customer of a momentary aid agency).

– bought to pay a charge.

– prosecuted.

Discover more about reprisals.

Greater right or advantage

If a provision in an employment agreement or another Act provides a worker a greater right or advantage than a minimum employment requirement under the ESA then that arrangement applies to the worker instead of the work requirement.

No waiving of rights

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

Enforcement and compliance

Violations of the ESA can lead to enforcement action.

The kind 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 notification of contravention with a financial penalty.

– an order to reinstate and/or compensate.

– prosecution.

Other workplace-related laws

The ESA contains only some of the guidelines impacting operate 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 learn more about other Ontario laws, contact ServiceOntario:

– Tel: job 416-326-1234 (in Toronto).

– Toll-free: 1-800-267-8097 (in the rest of Ontario).

– online at ServiceOntario.ca.

Federal laws impacting offices include statutes on income tax, employment insurance and the Canada Pension Plan.

For 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 companies 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:

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

– 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 career college registered under the Ontario Career Colleges Act, 2005.

– secondary school trainees who work under a work experience program licensed by the school board that runs the school in which the trainee is enrolled.

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

– cops officers (except for the lie detectors arrangements of the ESA, which do apply).

– inmates participating in work or rehabilitation programs, or people who work as part of a sentence or job order of a court.

– people who hold political, judicial, spiritual or elected trade union workplaces.

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

– individuals who fulfill the definition of company expert or information technology specialist under the ESA if specific conditions are satisfied.

For a total listing of other people not governed by the ESA, please examine 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 Interpretation Manual is the primary 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 readily available to address your concerns about the ESA. Information is offered in many languages. You can reach the information centre from Monday to Friday, job 8:30 a.m.