1 Your Guide to The Employment Standards Act

Abby Loar edited this page 1 month ago

This guide is a hassle-free source of information about crucial areas of the ESA. It is for your information and assistance only. It is not a legal file. If you need details or precise language, please refer to the ESA itself and its regulations.

This guide should not be utilized as or considered legal recommendations. You might have higher rights under an employment agreement, collective arrangement, the typical law or other legislation. If you're uncertain about anything in this guide, please talk to a legal representative.

Topics covered by the ESA?

These consist of:

advantage plans
bereavement leave
child death leave
crime-related kid disappearance leave
important illness leave
stated emergency situation leave
domestic or sexual violence leave
the work requirements poster: distribution requirements
equivalent spend for equal work
household caretaker leave
family medical leave
household obligation leave
submitting a claim
hours of work, eating periods and rest periods
infectious illness emergency leave
licensing - momentary help companies and employers
lie detector tests
base pay
non-compete arrangements
organ donor leave
overtime pay
payment of wages
pregnancy and adult leave
public holidays
reservist leave
severance of work
sick leave
temporary aid agencies
termination of work and short-lived layoffs
tips or gratuities
getaway.
composed policy on disconnecting from work.
written policy on electronic tracking of staff members.
Reprisals are prohibited

Employers are forbidden from penalizing staff members in any method because the staff member worked out ESA rights.

Clients of temporary aid firms are restricted from penalizing assignment workers in any way due to the fact that the task employee exercised ESA rights.

Recruiters are forbidden from penalizing potential employees who engage or use the employer's services in any method for particular factors, consisting of asking the recruiter to abide by the Act or investigating about whether a person holds a licence as required by the ESA.

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

- ordered to compensate the worker, assignment employee or potential employee.
- purchased to reinstate the staff member or assignment employee (if the reprisal was by a company or customer of a short-lived help firm).
- ordered to pay a penalty.
- prosecuted.
Discover more about reprisals.

Greater right or benefit

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

No waiving of rights

No staff member can accept waive or give up their rights under the ESA (for example, the right to receive 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 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 conflict with a monetary charge.
- an order to restore and/or compensate.
- prosecution.
Other workplace-related laws

The ESA consists of only some of the guidelines impacting work 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 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: 416-326-1234 (in Toronto).
- Toll-free: 1-800-267-8097 (in the rest of Ontario).
- online at ServiceOntario.ca.
Federal laws impacting workplaces include statutes on earnings tax, employment insurance coverage and the Canada Pension Plan.

For more info 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 individuals and individuals or companies they work for, such as:

- staff members and employers in sectors that fall under federal employment law jurisdiction, such as airlines, banks, the federal civil service, post workplaces, radio and television stations and employment inter-provincial trains.
- people working under a program approved by a college of applied arts and technology or university.
- individuals working under a program that is authorized by a profession college signed up 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 registered.
- people who do community involvement under the Ontario Works Act, 1997.
- law enforcement officer (other than for the lie detectors arrangements of the ESA, which do apply).
- inmates participating in work or rehab programs, or people who work as part of a sentence or order of a court.
- people who hold political, judicial, spiritual or chosen trade union offices.
- significant junior ice hockey players who satisfy particular conditions related to scholarships.
- people who fulfill the meaning of business expert or infotech consultant under the ESA if specific conditions are satisfied.
For a complete listing of other people not governed by the ESA, please examine the ESA and its guidelines.

Employee misclassification

Employers are restricted from misclassifying employees as independent contractors, interns, employment volunteers or any other type of worker not covered by the ESA.

Learn more about employee misclassification.

Additional resources

In addition to this guide, the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development (MLITSD) has extra resources offered to assist 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 questions about the ESA. Information is available in numerous languages. You can reach the details centre from Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m.