Your Guide to The Employment Standards Act

This guide is a convenient source of details about crucial sections of the ESA. It is for your info and assistance only. It is not a legal file. If you need details or precise language, please describe the ESA itself and its policies.

This guide should not be used as or considered legal advice. You may have higher rights under an employment contract, cumulative agreement, the common law or other legislation. If you’re uncertain about anything in this guide, please talk with an attorney.

Topics covered by the ESA?

These include:

benefit plans

bereavement leave

kid death leave

crime-related kid disappearance leave

critical health problem leave

stated emergency situation leave

domestic or sexual violence leave

the employment standards poster: distribution requirements

equal spend for equivalent work

household caregiver leave

household medical leave

family responsibility leave

suing

hours of work, consuming periods and rest periods

infectious illness emergency leave

licensing – temporary aid agencies and job employers

lie detector tests

base pay

non-compete agreements

organ donor leave

overtime pay

payment of incomes

pregnancy and parental leave

public vacations

reservist leave

severance of employment

authorized leave

temporary help agencies

termination of work and temporary layoffs

ideas or gratuities

getaway.

composed policy on detaching from work.

composed policy on electronic tracking of staff members.

Reprisals are forbidden

Employers are restricted from punishing staff members in any method since the worker exercised ESA rights.

Clients of temporary help companies are restricted from penalizing project staff members in any way since the assignment employee exercised ESA rights.

Recruiters are restricted from punishing potential staff members who engage or use the recruiter’s services in any method for certain factors, including asking the recruiter to comply with the Act or making questions about whether a person holds a licence as required by the ESA.

Employers, clients of temporary help agencies and employers who commit a reprisal can be:

– ordered to compensate the worker, task worker or job potential employee.

– purchased to restore the staff member or task staff member (if the reprisal was devoted by a company or customer of a temporary aid company).

– ordered to pay a penalty.

– prosecuted.

Learn more about reprisals.

Greater right or benefit

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

No waiving of rights

No employee can accept waive or quit their rights under the ESA (for job 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 type of enforcement action that can be taken depends upon which provision of the ESA was contravened. Examples include:

– an order to pay.

– a compliance order.

– a ticket.

– a notice of conflict with a financial penalty.

– an order to restore and/or compensate.

– prosecution.

Other workplace-related laws

The ESA consists of just a few of the rules affecting operate in Ontario. Other provincial and federal legislation governs concerns such as workplace health and wellness, human rights and labour relations.

Related Ontario laws consist of the:

Occupational Health And Wellness Act.

Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997.

Labour Relations Act, 1995.

Pay Equity Act.

Human Rights Code.

For additional information about other Ontario laws, contact ServiceOntario:

– Tel: 416-326-1234 (in Toronto).

– Toll-free: job 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 and the Canada Pension.

For more 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 employers 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:

– employees and companies in sectors that fall under federal employment law jurisdiction, such as airlines, banks, the federal civil service, post workplaces, radio and television stations and inter-provincial trains.

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

– people working under a program that is authorized 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 operates the school in which the student is enrolled.

who do community involvement under the Ontario Works Act, 1997.

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

– inmates participating in work or rehabilitation programs, or people who work as part of a sentence or order of a court.

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

– major junior ice hockey players who satisfy specific conditions related to scholarships.

– individuals who satisfy the definition of business consultant or information innovation specialist under the ESA if particular conditions are met.

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

Employee misclassification

Employers are prohibited from misclassifying workers as independent contractors, job interns, volunteers or any other kind of worker not covered by the ESA.

Learn more about worker misclassification.

Additional resources

In addition to this guide, the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and job 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 respecting the interpretation, administration and enforcement of the ESA.

– Staff at the Employment Standards Information Centre are readily available to answer your questions about the ESA. Information is available in many languages. You can reach the info centre from Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m.