Your Guide to The Employment Standards Act
This guide is a hassle-free source of information about crucial areas of the ESA. It is for your details and assistance only. It is not a legal document. If you need details or exact language, please refer to the ESA itself and its guidelines.
This guide needs to not be utilized as or thought about legal guidance. You may have higher rights under an employment contract, collective contract, the common law or other legislation. If you’re unsure about anything in this guide, please speak to a legal representative.
Topics covered by the ESA?
These consist of:
benefit strategies
bereavement leave
kid death leave
crime-related kid disappearance leave
crucial disease leave
declared emergency situation leave
domestic or sexual violence leave
the employment requirements poster: circulation requirements
equivalent pay for equal work
household caregiver leave
family medical leave
family duty leave
suing
hours of work, eating periods and rest periods
contagious disease emergency leave
licensing – momentary aid companies and employers
lie detector tests
minimum wage
non-compete agreements
organ donor leave
overtime pay
payment of salaries
pregnancy and adult leave
public vacations
reservist leave
severance of employment
authorized leave
momentary assistance agencies
termination of work and temporary layoffs
pointers or gratuities
vacation.
composed policy on disconnecting from work.
written policy on electronic tracking of employees.
Reprisals are restricted
Employers are forbidden from punishing workers in any method since the staff member exercised ESA rights.
Clients of momentary assistance firms are restricted from penalizing task staff members in any way since the task staff member worked out ESA rights.
Recruiters are forbidden from punishing potential employees who engage or use the recruiter’s services in any way for certain reasons, including asking the recruiter to abide by the Act or making questions about whether a person holds a licence as needed by the ESA.
Employers, customers of temporary aid firms and employers who commit a reprisal can be:
– ordered to compensate the employee, task employee or potential worker.
– purchased to renew the staff member or task employee (if the reprisal was committed by an employer or customer of a short-term help firm).
– purchased to pay a penalty.
– prosecuted.
Discover more about reprisals.
Greater right or advantage
If an arrangement in an employment agreement or employment another Act provides an employee a higher right or benefit than a minimum work standard under the ESA then that arrangement uses to the staff member instead of the employment standard.
No waiving of rights
No worker can agree to waive or provide up their rights under the ESA (for instance, the right to receive overtime pay or public holiday pay). Any such 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 provision of the ESA was contravened. Examples include:
– an order to pay.
– a compliance order.
– a ticket.
– a notification of breach with a financial charge.
– 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 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.
For more 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 income tax, work insurance and the Canada Pension Plan.
To find out more about federal laws, call the Government of Canada details line at 1-800-622-6232.
Who is not covered by the ESA?
Most employees and employers in Ontario are covered by the ESA. However, the ESA does not use to some people and employment the people or organizations they work for, such as:
– workers and employers in sectors that fall under federal employment law jurisdiction, such as airlines, banks, the federal civil service, post offices, radio and tv stations and inter-provincial trains.
– individuals working under a program authorized by a college of applied arts and technology or university.
– people 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 authorized by the school board that runs the school in which the trainee is enrolled.
– individuals who do community involvement under the Ontario Works Act, 1997.
– law enforcement officer (except for the lie detectors provisions of the ESA, which do apply).
– prisoners participating in work or rehab programs, employment or individuals who work as part of a sentence or order of a court.
– people who hold political, judicial, religious or elected trade union offices.
– significant junior employment ice hockey players who meet particular conditions related to scholarships.
– people who satisfy the definition of organization specialist or infotech consultant under the ESA if specific conditions are fulfilled.
For a complete listing of other people not governed by the ESA, please check the ESA and its regulations.
Employee misclassification
Employers are forbidden from misclassifying staff members as independent professionals, interns, volunteers or any other kind of worker not covered by the ESA.
Learn 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 readily available 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 analysis, administration and enforcement of the ESA.
– Staff at the Employment Standards Information Centre are available to answer your concerns about the ESA. Information is readily available in numerous languages. You can reach the info centre from Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m.