Your Guide to The Employment Standards Act

This guide is a convenient source of information about essential areas of the ESA. It is for job your details and support just. It is not a legal file. If you need details or precise language, please refer to the ESA itself and its guidelines.

This guide should not be utilized as or thought about legal guidance. You may have higher rights under an employment agreement, collective contract, the common law or other legislation. If you’re unsure about anything in this guide, job please speak to a legal representative.

Topics covered by the ESA?

These include:

advantage strategies

bereavement leave

kid death leave

crime-related child disappearance leave

important illness leave

stated emergency leave

domestic or sexual violence leave

the work standards poster: distribution requirements

equivalent pay for equal work

family caretaker leave

family medical leave

household obligation leave

suing

hours of work, eating durations and pause

contagious illness emergency situation leave

licensing – short-lived help companies and recruiters

lie detector tests

minimum wage

non-compete contracts

organ donor leave

overtime pay

payment of wages

pregnancy and job adult leave

public vacations

reservist leave

severance of work

ill leave

temporary help companies

termination of employment and short-lived layoffs

pointers or gratuities

getaway.

composed policy on detaching from work.

written policy on electronic tracking of staff members.

Reprisals are forbidden

Employers are forbidden from punishing employees in any method since the employee exercised ESA rights.

Clients of temporary help agencies are forbidden from penalizing project employees in any method due to the fact that the project staff member exercised ESA rights.

Recruiters are forbidden from punishing potential staff members who engage or utilize the recruiter’s services in any method for certain factors, including asking the recruiter to adhere to the Act or investigating about whether an individual holds a licence as required by the ESA.

Employers, customers of momentary help firms and employers who commit a reprisal can be:

– bought to compensate the staff member, project staff member or prospective staff member.

– bought to reinstate the worker or project employee (if the reprisal was committed by a company or client of a short-term help firm).

– ordered to pay a penalty.

– prosecuted.

Find out more about reprisals.

Greater right or benefit

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

No waiving of rights

No staff member can accept waive or offer up 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 result in enforcement action.

The type 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 notice of contravention with a monetary penalty.

– an order to reinstate and/or compensate.

– prosecution.

Other workplace-related laws

The ESA consists of just some of the rules affecting work 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.

Act, 1995.

Pay Equity Act.

Human Rights Code.

For more details 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 earnings tax, work insurance coverage and the Canada Pension Plan.

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 employers in Ontario are covered by the ESA. However, the ESA does not apply to some people and the individuals or companies they work for, such as:

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

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

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

– secondary school students who work under a work experience program authorized by the school board that operates the school in which the student is registered.

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

– policeman (other than for job the lie detectors arrangements of the ESA, which do use).

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

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

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

– people who fulfill the meaning of organization expert or infotech specialist under the ESA if certain conditions are met.

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

Employee misclassification

Employers are restricted from misclassifying employees 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 recommendation 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 available to answer your questions about the ESA. Information is available in numerous languages. You can reach the info centre from Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m.