Your Guide to The Employment Standards Act

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

This guide ought to not be utilized as or employment considered legal suggestions. You might have higher rights under an employment agreement, cumulative contract, the common law or other legislation. If you’re unsure about anything in this guide, please talk to a legal representative.

Topics covered by the ESA?

These consist of:

advantage plans

bereavement leave

kid death leave

crime-related kid disappearance leave

vital disease leave

declared emergency situation leave

domestic or sexual violence leave

the employment standards poster: distribution requirements

equivalent pay for equal work

family caretaker leave

household medical leave

household responsibility leave

filing a claim

hours of work, eating periods and rest periods

infectious disease emergency situation leave

licensing — temporary assistance agencies and employers

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 work

sick leave

short-term aid firms

termination of work and temporary layoffs

pointers or gratuities

trip.

written policy on detaching from work.

composed policy on electronic monitoring of workers.

Reprisals are forbidden

Employers are forbidden from punishing staff members in any way because the staff member exercised ESA rights.

Clients of momentary assistance firms are prohibited from penalizing task employees in any method due to the fact that the task worker worked out ESA rights.

Recruiters are forbidden from penalizing potential workers who engage or utilize the recruiter’s services in any method for particular factors, including asking the employer to abide by the Act or inquiring about whether a person holds a licence as required by the ESA.

Employers, customers of temporary help companies and recruiters who devote a reprisal can be:

— bought to compensate the worker, assignment staff member or prospective employee.

— ordered to restore the employee or project staff member (if the reprisal was devoted by a company or customer of a short-term assistance firm).

— bought to pay a penalty.

— prosecuted.

Learn more about reprisals.

Greater right or advantage

If an arrangement in an employment agreement or another Act gives a staff member a greater right or benefit than a minimum work standard under the ESA then that arrangement applies to the worker instead of the employment requirement.

No waiving of rights

No employee can accept waive or quit their rights under the ESA (for instance, the right to receive overtime pay or public vacation pay). Any such agreement is null and void.

Enforcement and compliance

Violations of the ESA can lead to enforcement action.

The kind 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 notice of breach with a monetary charge.

— an order to renew and/or compensate.

— prosecution.

Other workplace-related laws

The ESA contains just a few of the rules affecting work in Ontario. Other provincial and federal legislation governs issues such as workplace health and security, human rights and labour relations.

Related Ontario laws consist of 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 affecting workplaces consist of statutes on earnings tax, work insurance and the Canada Pension.

For additional information about 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 use 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 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 employment technology or university.

— people working under a program that is authorized by a profession college registered under the Ontario Career Colleges Act, employment 2005.

— secondary school trainees who work under a work experience program licensed by the school board that runs the school in which the student is registered.

— individuals who do community participation under the Ontario Works Act, 1997.

— law enforcement officer (other than 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 order of a court.

— individuals who hold political, judicial, spiritual or chosen trade union workplaces.

— significant junior employment ice hockey gamers who fulfill certain conditions related to scholarships.

— people who satisfy the definition of company consultant or infotech specialist under the ESA if certain conditions are satisfied.

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

Employee misclassification

Employers are prohibited from misclassifying staff members as independent professionals, interns, volunteers or any other kind of employee not covered by the ESA.

Find out more about staff member misclassification.

Additional resources

In addition to this guide, the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development (MLITSD) has extra 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 appreciating the interpretation, administration and enforcement of the ESA.

— Staff at the Employment Standards Information Centre are offered to answer your concerns about the ESA. Information is available in many languages. You can reach the information centre from Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m.