Your Guide to The Employment Standards Act

This guide is a convenient source of details about crucial sections of the ESA. It is for your information and help just. It is not a legal document. If you need details or precise language, please describe the ESA itself and its guidelines.

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

Topics covered by the ESA?

These include:

advantage strategies

bereavement leave

kid death leave

crime-related kid disappearance leave

crucial health problem leave

stated emergency leave

domestic or sexual violence leave

the employment requirements poster: circulation requirements

equal spend for equivalent work

family caretaker leave

household medical leave

family responsibility leave

suing

hours of work, eating durations and rest durations

contagious illness emergency leave

licensing – temporary aid agencies and recruiters

lie detector tests

base pay

non-compete arrangements

organ donor leave

overtime pay

payment of earnings

pregnancy and parental leave

public holidays

reservist leave

severance of employment

ill leave

momentary assistance agencies

termination of work and temporary layoffs

suggestions or gratuities

getaway.

composed policy on detaching from work.

written policy on electronic tracking of staff members.

Reprisals are prohibited

Employers are forbidden from punishing staff members in any way because the staff member exercised ESA rights.

Clients of short-lived aid companies are prohibited from penalizing assignment staff members in any way due to the fact that the assignment worker exercised ESA rights.

Recruiters are restricted from punishing potential staff members who engage or utilize the employer’s services in any method for specific factors, including asking the recruiter to abide by the Act or making queries about whether a person holds a licence as required by the ESA.

Employers, customers of temporary help firms and recruiters who devote a reprisal can be:

– ordered to compensate the employee, assignment staff member or prospective worker.

– bought to restore the employee or task employee (if the reprisal was devoted by a company or customer of a short-term assistance agency).

– bought to pay a charge.

– prosecuted.

Discover more about reprisals.

Greater right or benefit

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

No waiving of rights

No worker can consent to waive or offer up their rights under the ESA (for example, the right to receive overtime pay or public vacation pay). Any such contract is null and space.

Enforcement and compliance

Violations of the ESA can result in enforcement action.

The type of enforcement action that can be taken depends on which arrangement of the ESA was contravened. Examples consist of:

– an order to pay.

– a compliance order.

– a ticket.

– a notice of breach with a financial penalty.

– an order to reinstate and/or compensate.

– prosecution.

Other workplace-related laws

The ESA contains 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 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 impacting offices include statutes on earnings tax, employment employment insurance coverage and the Canada Pension Plan.

To find out more about federal laws, call the Government of Canada info line at 1-800-622-6232.

Who is not covered by the ESA?

Most staff members and employers in Ontario are by the ESA. However, the ESA does not apply to some individuals and the individuals or organizations they work for, such as:

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

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

– people working under a program that is authorized by a career college signed up 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.

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

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

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

– individuals who hold political, judicial, spiritual or chosen trade union offices.

– significant junior ice hockey gamers who meet particular conditions associated with scholarships.

– individuals who meet the meaning of organization specialist or info innovation consultant under the ESA if specific conditions are met.

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

Employee misclassification

Employers are prohibited from misclassifying staff members as independent specialists, interns, volunteers or any other type of worker not covered by the ESA.

Find out more about worker 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 primary 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 offered in numerous languages. You can reach the information centre from Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m.