Your Guide to The Employment Standards Act
This guide is a convenient source of information about crucial areas of the ESA. It is for your information and support only. It is not a legal file. If you require information or precise language, please refer to the ESA itself and its policies.
This guide must not be utilized as or thought about legal recommendations. You may have greater rights under a work contract, collective agreement, the typical law or other legislation. If you’re uncertain about anything in this guide, please speak with a lawyer.
Topics covered by the ESA?
These consist of:
benefit strategies
bereavement leave
kid death leave
crime-related child disappearance leave
important health problem leave
stated emergency leave
domestic or sexual violence leave
the work requirements poster: circulation requirements
equal pay for equivalent work
household caretaker leave
family medical leave
household duty leave
filing a claim
hours of work, eating periods and rest durations
contagious disease emergency leave
licensing – short-term aid firms and recruiters
lie detector tests
minimum wage
non-compete contracts
organ donor employment leave
overtime pay
payment of earnings
pregnancy and adult leave
public holidays
reservist leave
severance of work
sick leave
temporary aid companies
termination of work and temporary layoffs
pointers or gratuities
vacation.
composed policy on detaching from work.
composed policy on electronic tracking of employees.
Reprisals are prohibited
Employers are restricted from punishing workers in any method because the employee exercised ESA rights.
Clients of short-lived help agencies are forbidden from punishing task workers in any method since the task worker worked out ESA rights.
Recruiters are forbidden from penalizing prospective employees who engage or utilize the recruiter’s services in any way for particular factors, including asking the employer to adhere to the Act or inquiring about whether an individual holds a licence as required by the ESA.
Employers, clients of short-term help firms and recruiters who commit a reprisal can be:
– bought to compensate the employee, task staff member or prospective worker.
– purchased to reinstate the staff member or project worker (if the reprisal was devoted by an employer or client of a temporary aid agency).
– ordered to pay a penalty.
– prosecuted.
Find out more about reprisals.
Greater right or benefit
If a provision in an employment contract or another Act provides a worker a greater right or benefit than a minimum work requirement under the ESA then that arrangement uses to the employee instead of the work requirement.
No waiving of rights
No worker can to waive or give up their rights under the ESA (for example, the right to get overtime pay or public holiday pay). Any such arrangement 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 provision of the ESA was contravened. Examples consist of:
– an order to pay.
– a compliance order.
– a ticket.
– a notification of breach with a monetary penalty.
– an order to renew and/or compensate.
– prosecution.
Other workplace-related laws
The ESA consists of just a few of the rules impacting work in Ontario. Other provincial and federal legislation governs concerns such as workplace health and security, human rights and labour relations.
Related Ontario laws include the:
Occupational Health And Wellness 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 offices consist of statutes on income tax, work insurance coverage and the Canada Pension.
For more details about federal laws, call the Government of Canada info line at 1-800-622-6232.
Who is not covered by the ESA?
Most workers and companies in Ontario are covered by the ESA. However, the ESA does not apply to some people and the individuals or organizations they work for, such as:
– workers and companies in sectors that fall under federal work law jurisdiction, such as airline companies, banks, the federal civil service, post workplaces, radio and employment tv stations and inter-provincial trains.
– individuals working under a program approved 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 licensed by the school board that runs the school in which the trainee is registered.
– individuals who do neighborhood involvement under the Ontario Works Act, 1997.
– police officers (other than for the lie detectors arrangements of the ESA, which do use).
– prisoners participating in work or rehabilitation programs, or people who work as part of a sentence or order of a court.
– people who hold political, judicial, religious or elected trade union workplaces.
– significant junior ice hockey gamers who fulfill particular conditions related to scholarships.
– individuals who satisfy the definition of business consultant or info technology specialist under the ESA if specific conditions are satisfied.
For a complete listing of other people not governed by the ESA, please check the ESA and its policies.
Employee misclassification
Employers are forbidden from misclassifying workers as independent contractors, interns, volunteers or any other type of employee not covered by the ESA.
Discover 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 help you:
– The Employment Standards Act Policy and Interpretation Manual is the main reference source for employment 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 offered to address your concerns about the ESA. Information is readily available in numerous languages. You can reach the details centre from Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m.
