Your Guide to The Employment Standards Act

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

This guide should not be utilized as or thought about legal advice. You might have higher rights under an employment agreement, cumulative arrangement, the common law or other legislation. If you’re uncertain about anything in this guide, please speak with a lawyer.

Topics covered by the ESA?

These include:

benefit strategies

bereavement leave

kid death leave

crime-related kid disappearance leave

critical health problem leave

declared emergency leave

domestic or sexual violence leave

the work requirements poster: employment distribution requirements

equal pay for equivalent work

household caretaker leave

household medical leave

household duty leave

submitting a claim

hours of work, consuming durations and pause

infectious illness emergency situation leave

licensing – short-lived aid companies and employment recruiters

lie detector tests

base pay

non-compete contracts

organ donor leave

overtime pay

payment of earnings

pregnancy and adult leave

public vacations

reservist leave

severance of employment

authorized leave

momentary help companies

of employment and temporary layoffs

tips or gratuities

getaway.

written policy on disconnecting from work.

written policy on electronic tracking of employees.

Reprisals are restricted

Employers are prohibited from punishing staff members in any way since the employee exercised ESA rights.

Clients of short-lived help companies are restricted from punishing project workers in any method since the assignment staff member worked out ESA rights.

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

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

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

– bought to restore the employee or assignment employee (if the reprisal was dedicated by an employer or customer of a short-lived assistance company).

– ordered to pay a penalty.

– prosecuted.

Discover more about reprisals.

Greater right or benefit

If a provision in an employment agreement or another Act offers a worker a higher right or advantage than a minimum work requirement under the ESA then that arrangement uses to the staff member instead of the employment standard.

No waiving of rights

No staff member can consent to waive or offer 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 type of enforcement action that can be taken depends on which arrangement of the ESA was contravened. Examples include:

– an order to pay.

– a compliance order.

– a ticket.

– a notification of conflict with a monetary charge.

– an order to renew 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 problems such as workplace health and wellness, human rights and labour relations.

Related Ontario laws consist of the:

Occupational Health And employment 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 offices consist of statutes on income tax, employment insurance coverage and the Canada Pension.

To find out more about federal laws, call the Government of Canada information 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 use to some people and the people or companies they work for, such as:

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

– individuals working under a program approved by a college of used arts and technology or university.

– people 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 authorized by the school board that operates the school in which the student is enrolled.

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

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

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

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

– major junior ice hockey gamers who fulfill specific conditions connected to scholarships.

– people who meet the definition of business specialist or info innovation consultant under the ESA if particular conditions are satisfied.

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

Employee misclassification

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

Discover 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 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 offered to address your questions about the ESA. Information is offered in numerous languages. You can reach the details centre from Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m.