Your Guide to The Employment Standards Act

This guide is a practical source of details about essential sections of the ESA. It is for your information and help only. It is not a legal document. If you need details or exact language, please refer to the ESA itself and employment its guidelines.

This guide ought to not be utilized as or thought about legal suggestions. You might have greater rights under an employment agreement, collective agreement, the typical law or other legislation. If you’re not sure about anything in this guide, please talk to a lawyer.

Topics covered by the ESA?

These include:

advantage strategies

bereavement leave

kid death leave

crime-related kid disappearance leave

important disease leave

declared emergency leave

domestic or sexual violence leave

the employment standards poster: circulation requirements

equivalent spend for equivalent work

family caretaker leave

family medical leave

family obligation leave

suing

hours of work, eating durations and rest periods

transmittable illness emergency leave

licensing – short-term assistance companies and employers

lie detector tests

minimum wage

non-compete agreements

organ donor leave

overtime pay

payment of incomes

pregnancy and parental leave

public holidays

reservist leave

severance of employment

sick leave

short-lived assistance firms

termination of work and momentary layoffs

pointers or gratuities

holiday.

written policy on disconnecting from work.

written policy on electronic monitoring of employees.

Reprisals are prohibited

Employers are restricted from punishing workers in any method because the staff member worked out ESA rights.

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

Recruiters are prohibited from punishing prospective workers who engage or utilize the employer’s services in any way for particular reasons, including asking the recruiter to abide by the Act or inquiring about whether a person holds a licence as required by the ESA.

Employers, clients of short-term aid agencies and employers who dedicate a reprisal can be:

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

– purchased to restore the worker or assignment employee (if the reprisal was committed by an employer or customer of a momentary assistance agency).

– purchased to pay a charge.

– prosecuted.

Discover more about reprisals.

Greater right or advantage

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

No waiving of rights

No employee can consent to waive or offer up their rights under the ESA (for instance, the right to receive overtime pay or public holiday pay). Any such contract is null and void.

Enforcement and compliance

Violations of the ESA can result in enforcement action.

The kind of enforcement action that can be taken depends upon which provision of the ESA was contravened. Examples include:

– an order to pay.

– a compliance order.

– a ticket.

– a notification 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 operate in Ontario. Other provincial and federal legislation governs concerns 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: 416-326-1234 (in Toronto).

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

– online at ServiceOntario.ca.

Federal laws impacting workplaces include statutes on earnings tax, work insurance and the Canada Pension.

To learn more about federal laws, call the Government of Canada details 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 individuals and individuals or organizations they work for, such as:

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

– people working under a program approved by a college of applied arts and innovation or university.

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

– secondary school students 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 involvement under the Ontario Works Act, 1997.

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

– inmates taking part in work or employment rehab 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.

– major junior ice hockey gamers who fulfill particular conditions associated with scholarships.

– people who fulfill the definition of service consultant or details technology specialist under the ESA if particular conditions are satisfied.

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

Employee misclassification

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

Learn more about employee misclassification.

Additional resources

In addition to this guide, employment 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 source for the policies of the Director of Employment Standards respecting the analysis, administration and enforcement of the ESA.

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