Your Guide to The Employment Standards Act

This guide is a practical source of info about crucial sections of the ESA. It is for your information and assistance just. It is not a legal file. If you need details or precise language, please refer to the ESA itself and its policies.

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

Topics covered by the ESA?

These include:

advantage plans

bereavement leave

kid death leave

crime-related child disappearance leave

vital health problem leave

declared emergency situation leave

domestic or sexual violence leave

the work requirements poster: circulation requirements

equivalent pay for equivalent work

family caretaker leave

household medical leave

family obligation leave

filing a claim

hours of work, consuming durations and rest periods

transmittable disease emergency situation leave

licensing – temporary help companies and employers

lie detector tests

minimum wage

non-compete contracts

organ donor leave

overtime pay

payment of earnings

pregnancy and adult leave

public holidays

reservist leave

severance of work

authorized leave

temporary assistance agencies

termination of work and short-term layoffs

ideas or gratuities

trip.

written policy on disconnecting from work.

written policy on electronic monitoring of employees.

Reprisals are prohibited

Employers are forbidden from punishing staff members in any way because the worker worked out ESA rights.

Clients of short-lived assistance companies are restricted from penalizing task employees in any method because the project worker exercised ESA rights.

Recruiters are restricted from penalizing prospective staff members who engage or utilize the recruiter’s services in any method for specific factors, including asking the employer to abide by the Act or investigating about whether an individual holds a licence as needed by the ESA.

Employers, clients of momentary aid companies and employers who devote a reprisal can be:

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

– purchased to renew the staff member or project worker (if the reprisal was committed by an employer or client of a temporary help firm).

– purchased to pay a charge.

– prosecuted.

Discover more about reprisals.

Greater right or benefit

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

No waiving of rights

No worker can consent to waive or provide up their rights under the ESA (for instance, the right to receive overtime pay or public holiday pay). Any such arrangement 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 upon which arrangement of the ESA was contravened. Examples include:

– an order to pay.

– a compliance order.

– a ticket.

– a notification of conflict with a financial charge.

– an order to restore and/or compensate.

– prosecution.

Other workplace-related laws

The ESA includes 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 employment 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 impacting work environments consist of statutes on income tax, work insurance and the Canada Pension Plan.

For more details 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 individuals and the individuals or organizations they work for, such as:

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

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

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

– secondary school trainees who work under a work experience program licensed by the school board that operates the school in which the student is enrolled.

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

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

– inmates participating in work or 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 workplaces.

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

– people who fulfill the definition of company specialist or details innovation expert under the ESA if specific conditions are met.

For a total listing of other individuals not governed by the ESA, employment please check the ESA and its guidelines.

Employee misclassification

Employers are forbidden from misclassifying employees as independent specialists, interns, volunteers or any other kind of worker 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 additional resources available 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 appreciating the interpretation, employment administration and enforcement of the ESA.

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