Your Guide to The Employment Standards Act

This guide is a hassle-free source of info about crucial areas of the ESA. It is for your information and help only. It is not a legal file. If you require information or exact language, please refer to the ESA itself and its guidelines.

This guide ought to not be used as or thought about legal guidance. You may have greater rights under a work contract, collective contract, the common law or other legislation. If you’re uncertain about anything in this guide, please speak to a legal representative.

Topics covered by the ESA?

These consist of:

advantage plans

bereavement leave

kid death leave

crime-related kid disappearance leave

crucial illness leave

declared emergency leave

domestic or sexual violence leave

the employment standards poster: distribution requirements

equivalent pay for equal work

family caregiver leave

household medical leave

household responsibility leave

suing

hours of work, consuming periods and rest periods

infectious illness emergency leave

licensing – short-term aid firms and recruiters

lie detector tests

minimum wage

non-compete agreements

leave

overtime pay

payment of earnings

pregnancy and parental leave

public vacations

reservist leave

severance of work

authorized leave

temporary help firms

termination of work and employment momentary layoffs

ideas or gratuities

trip.

composed policy on disconnecting from work.

written policy on electronic monitoring of staff members.

Reprisals are restricted

Employers are forbidden from penalizing workers in any method because the worker worked out ESA rights.

Clients of short-term help agencies are restricted from punishing assignment workers in any method due to the fact that the assignment employee worked out ESA rights.

Recruiters are restricted from punishing prospective staff members who engage or utilize the employer’s services in any way for specific factors, consisting of asking the employer to comply with the Act or inquiring about whether a person holds a licence as needed by the ESA.

Employers, customers of momentary help agencies and employers who devote a reprisal can be:

– purchased to compensate the worker, assignment employee or potential employee.

– ordered to restore the staff member or project staff member (if the reprisal was committed by an employer or client of a momentary help agency).

– purchased to pay a penalty.

– prosecuted.

Learn more about reprisals.

Greater right or advantage

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

No waiving of rights

No employee can concur to waive or quit their rights under the ESA (for instance, the right to get overtime pay or public holiday pay). Any such contract 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 notice of contravention with a monetary charge.

– an order to reinstate and/or compensate.

– prosecution.

Other workplace-related laws

The ESA includes just some of the guidelines impacting operate in Ontario. Other provincial and federal legislation governs problems such as workplace health and safety, human rights and labour relations.

Related Ontario laws consist of the:

Occupational Health and Safety 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: employment 416-326-1234 (in Toronto).

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

– online at ServiceOntario.ca.

Federal laws impacting workplaces consist of statutes on income tax, employment insurance coverage and the Canada Pension Plan.

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 employees 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, such as airlines, banks, the federal civil service, post offices, radio and tv stations and inter-provincial railways.

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

– individuals 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 authorized by the school board that runs the school in which the trainee is enrolled.

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

– police officers (except for the lie detectors arrangements of the ESA, which do use).

– inmates taking part in work or rehabilitation 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 satisfy specific conditions related to scholarships.

– individuals who satisfy the definition of organization specialist or infotech specialist under the ESA if specific conditions are satisfied.

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

Employee misclassification

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

Find out more about employee 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 Interpretation Manual is the primary recommendation source for employment the policies of the Director of Employment Standards appreciating the interpretation, 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 many languages. You can reach the information centre from Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m.