Your Guide to The Employment Standards Act

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

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

Topics covered by the ESA?

These consist of:

advantage plans

bereavement leave

child death leave

crime-related child disappearance leave

vital illness leave

stated emergency leave

domestic or sexual violence leave

the employment requirements poster: circulation requirements

equivalent pay for equal work

household caregiver leave

family medical leave

household responsibility leave

filing a claim

hours of work, consuming periods and pause

infectious illness emergency situation leave

licensing – short-lived aid firms and recruiters

lie detector tests

base pay

non-compete contracts

organ donor leave

overtime pay

payment of incomes

pregnancy and adult leave

public holidays

reservist leave

severance of employment

sick leave

short-lived assistance agencies

termination of work and temporary layoffs

tips or gratuities

trip.

composed policy on disconnecting from work.

composed policy on electronic monitoring of workers.

Reprisals are restricted

Employers are forbidden from penalizing employees in any method since the worker exercised ESA rights.

Clients of temporary aid companies are forbidden from punishing task staff members in any way because the assignment employee exercised ESA rights.

Recruiters are forbidden from penalizing potential staff members who engage or use the employer’s services in any way for certain reasons, consisting of asking the recruiter to comply with the Act or inquiring about whether a person holds a licence as needed by the ESA.

Employers, customers of short-lived help agencies and recruiters who dedicate a reprisal can be:

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

– bought to restore the employee or assignment employee (if the reprisal was devoted by an employer or client of a short-term help agency).

– purchased to pay a penalty.

– prosecuted.

Learn more about reprisals.

Greater right or benefit

If a provision in a work agreement or another Act gives a worker a higher right or advantage than a minimum work standard under the ESA then that arrangement applies to the employee rather of the work standard.

No waiving of rights

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

– an order to pay.

– a compliance order.

– a ticket.

– a notification of breach with a financial charge.

– an order to restore and/or compensate.

– prosecution.

Other workplace-related laws

The ESA includes only some of the guidelines impacting operate in Ontario. Other provincial and federal legislation governs issues such as workplace health and wellness, 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 workplaces consist of statutes on income tax, work insurance and the Canada Pension Plan.

For more details about federal 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 apply to some people and the individuals or organizations they work for, such as:

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

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

– people working under a program that is approved by a profession 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 enrolled.

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

– law enforcement officer (other than for the lie detectors arrangements of the ESA, which do use).

– prisoners 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, religious or chosen trade union offices.

– significant junior ice hockey gamers who satisfy specific conditions related to scholarships.

– people who meet the meaning of or infotech consultant under the ESA if certain conditions are met.

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

Employee misclassification

Employers are restricted from misclassifying employees as independent professionals, interns, volunteers or any other type 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 extra resources available to assist you:

– The Employment Standards Act Policy and referall.us 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 readily available to answer your questions about the ESA. Information is offered in lots of languages. You can reach the information centre from Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m.