Your Guide to The Employment Standards Act

This guide is a hassle-free source of information about key areas of the ESA. It is for your info and support only. It is not a legal document. If you need details or exact language, please describe the ESA itself and its guidelines.

This guide should not be used as or thought about legal recommendations. You might have greater rights under an employment agreement, collective contract, the typical law or other legislation. If you’re unsure about anything in this guide, please talk to an attorney.

Topics covered by the ESA?

These consist of:

advantage plans

bereavement leave

child death leave

crime-related child disappearance leave

important disease leave

declared emergency leave

domestic or sexual violence leave

the employment standards poster: circulation requirements

equal pay for equivalent work

family caretaker leave

family medical leave

household duty leave

suing

hours of work, consuming periods and pause

transmittable illness emergency leave

licensing – momentary aid firms and employers

lie detector tests

base pay

non-compete contracts

organ donor leave

overtime pay

payment of incomes

pregnancy and job adult leave

public vacations

reservist leave

severance of employment

sick leave

momentary aid companies

termination of work and short-term layoffs

ideas or gratuities

trip.

written policy on disconnecting from work.

composed policy on electronic monitoring of employees.

Reprisals are forbidden

Employers are prohibited from penalizing workers in any way since the staff member worked out ESA rights.

Clients of momentary help agencies are restricted from punishing project employees in any method since the project worker exercised ESA rights.

Recruiters are prohibited from punishing potential employees who engage or use the employer’s services in any method for certain factors, including asking the recruiter to adhere to the Act or inquiring about whether a person holds a licence as required by the ESA.

Employers, customers of momentary aid agencies and recruiters who devote a reprisal can be:

– purchased to compensate the staff member, task worker or prospective staff member.

– ordered to restore the staff member or job project staff member (if the reprisal was committed by a company or customer of a short-lived assistance firm).

– ordered to pay a charge.

– prosecuted.

Discover more about reprisals.

Greater right or benefit

If a provision in an employment agreement or another Act offers an employee a higher right or advantage than a minimum work standard under the ESA then that provision applies to the employee instead of the employment standard.

No waiving of rights

No employee can accept waive or quit their rights under the ESA (for instance, the right to receive overtime pay or public vacation pay). Any such arrangement is null and void.

Enforcement and compliance

Violations of the ESA can result in enforcement action.

The kind of enforcement action that can be taken depends upon which provision of the ESA was contravened. include:

– an order to pay.

– a compliance order.

– a ticket.

– a notification of breach with a monetary charge.

– an order to reinstate and/or compensate.

– prosecution.

Other workplace-related laws

The ESA consists of only a few of the rules impacting work in Ontario. Other provincial and federal legislation governs problems 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.

To find out more 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 affecting work environments consist of statutes on earnings tax, work insurance and the Canada Pension Plan.

For additional information about federal laws, call the Government of Canada information line at 1-800-622-6232.

Who is not covered by the ESA?

Most staff members and job companies in Ontario are covered by the ESA. However, the ESA does not use to some people and individuals or companies 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 television stations and inter-provincial railways.

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

– individuals working under a program that is authorized by a career 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 operates the school in which the trainee is registered.

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

– policeman (other than for the lie detectors arrangements of the ESA, which do apply).

– prisoners 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 elected trade union offices.

– major junior ice hockey gamers who fulfill particular conditions connected to scholarships.

– individuals who meet the definition of organization expert or infotech expert under the ESA if certain conditions are satisfied.

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

Employee misclassification

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

Find out more about staff member misclassification.

Additional resources

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