Your Guide to The Employment Standards Act

This guide is a practical source of information about key sections of the ESA. It is for your information and assistance just. It is not a legal file. If you require details or exact language, please describe the ESA itself and its regulations.

This guide must not be utilized as or job considered legal advice. You might have higher rights under an employment agreement, collective contract, the common law or other legislation. If you’re unsure about anything in this guide, please talk to an attorney.

Topics covered by the ESA?

These include:

benefit plans

bereavement leave

kid death leave

crime-related kid disappearance leave

crucial disease leave

stated emergency leave

domestic or sexual violence leave

the employment requirements poster: distribution requirements

equivalent spend for equal work

family caregiver leave

household medical leave

household duty leave

submitting a claim

hours of work, eating durations and rest periods

contagious illness emergency leave

licensing – short-term help agencies and recruiters

lie detector tests

base pay

non-compete agreements

organ donor job leave

overtime pay

payment of incomes

pregnancy and adult leave

public holidays

reservist leave

severance of work

ill leave

momentary aid firms

termination of work and temporary layoffs

ideas or gratuities

getaway.

written policy on disconnecting from work.

written policy on electronic monitoring of staff members.

Reprisals are restricted

Employers are forbidden from punishing workers in any way due to the fact that the staff member worked out ESA rights.

Clients of short-lived aid companies are prohibited from punishing task workers in any method due to the fact that the task employee exercised ESA rights.

Recruiters are forbidden from penalizing prospective workers who engage or use the recruiter’s services in any method for certain factors, including asking the employer to abide by the Act or making queries about whether an individual holds a licence as required by the ESA.

Employers, clients of momentary assistance firms and employers who commit a reprisal can be:

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

– bought to reinstate the employee or task employee (if the reprisal was committed by a company or customer of a short-term aid company).

– bought to pay a charge.

– prosecuted.

Discover more about reprisals.

Greater right or benefit

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

No waiving of rights

No worker can consent to waive or quit their rights under the ESA (for instance, the right to get overtime pay or public vacation pay). Any such arrangement 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 on which provision of the ESA was contravened. Examples include:

– an order to pay.

– a compliance order.

– a ticket.

– a notification of breach with a monetary penalty.

– an order to reinstate and/or compensate.

– prosecution.

Other workplace-related laws

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

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

To learn 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 employers 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 employers in sectors that fall under federal employment law jurisdiction, such as airlines, banks, the federal civil service, post offices, radio and tv stations and inter-provincial trains.

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

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

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

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

– inmates taking part 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 chosen trade union offices.

– significant junior ice hockey gamers who meet particular conditions associated with scholarships.

– people who satisfy the meaning of organization specialist or job details innovation expert under the ESA if specific conditions are fulfilled.

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

Employee misclassification

Employers are prohibited from misclassifying staff members as independent professionals, interns, volunteers or any other kind 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 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 Information Centre are readily available to answer your questions about the ESA. Information is available in numerous languages. You can reach the details centre from Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m.