Your Guide to The Employment Standards Act

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

This guide should not be used as or considered legal recommendations. You might have higher rights under an employment agreement, cumulative agreement, the common law or other legislation. If you’re uncertain about anything in this guide, please talk to a lawyer.

Topics covered by the ESA?

These include:

benefit strategies

bereavement leave

child death leave

crime-related kid disappearance leave

vital disease leave

declared emergency leave

domestic or sexual violence leave

the work standards poster: circulation requirements

equivalent pay for equal work

household caretaker leave

household medical leave

family responsibility leave

filing a claim

hours of work, consuming periods and pause

transmittable illness emergency leave

licensing – temporary aid agencies and employers

lie detector tests

minimum wage

non-compete contracts

organ donor leave

overtime pay

payment of salaries

pregnancy and parental leave

public vacations

reservist leave

severance of work

ill leave

short-term aid companies

termination of work and employment short-term layoffs

ideas or gratuities

trip.

written policy on detaching from work.

written policy on electronic tracking of employees.

Reprisals are restricted

Employers are prohibited from punishing workers in any method because the staff member worked out ESA rights.

Clients of temporary help agencies are restricted from penalizing project staff members in any method due to the fact that the project employee exercised ESA rights.

Recruiters are forbidden from penalizing prospective employees who engage or utilize the employer’s services in any method for specific factors, including asking the recruiter to adhere to the Act or making questions about whether an individual holds a licence as required by the ESA.

Employers, clients of temporary aid agencies and recruiters who dedicate a reprisal can be:

– bought to compensate the staff member, assignment employee or member.

– bought to reinstate the employee or task employee (if the reprisal was committed by a company or customer of a short-term assistance firm).

– bought to pay a penalty.

– prosecuted.

Find out more about reprisals.

Greater right or advantage

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

No waiving of rights

No worker can concur to waive or offer up their rights under the ESA (for instance, the right to get overtime pay or public vacation pay). Any such agreement 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 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 a few of the guidelines impacting operate in Ontario. Other provincial and federal legislation governs concerns such as workplace health and wellness, employment 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.

For more information 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 affecting offices include statutes on earnings tax, employment insurance coverage and the Canada Pension.

To learn more 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 use to some individuals and the people or organizations they work for, such as:

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

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

– people working under a program that is approved by a profession 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 runs the school in which the student is registered.

– individuals 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).

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

– individuals who hold political, judicial, religious or elected trade union workplaces.

– major junior ice hockey players who fulfill certain conditions associated with scholarships.

– individuals who meet the meaning of organization consultant or info technology expert under the ESA if particular conditions are satisfied.

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

Employee misclassification

Employers are prohibited from misclassifying workers as independent specialists, 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 readily available to help you:

– The Employment Standards Act Policy and Interpretation Manual is the primary 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 address your concerns about the ESA. Information is offered in lots of languages. You can reach the info centre from Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m.