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 info and assistance just. It is not a legal file. If you need information or specific language, please describe the ESA itself and its regulations.

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

Topics covered by the ESA?

These consist of:

benefit plans

bereavement leave

kid death leave

crime-related kid disappearance leave

vital disease leave

declared emergency leave

domestic or sexual violence leave

the employment requirements poster: circulation requirements

equivalent spend for equivalent work

family caretaker leave

household medical leave

household obligation leave

submitting a claim

hours of work, eating durations and pause

infectious illness emergency situation leave

licensing – short-lived assistance agencies and recruiters

lie detector tests

base pay

non-compete contracts

organ donor leave

overtime pay

payment of incomes

pregnancy and parental leave

public vacations

reservist leave

severance of work

authorized leave

short-term aid companies

termination of employment and momentary layoffs

ideas or gratuities

trip.

written policy on detaching from work.

written policy on electronic monitoring of staff members.

Reprisals are restricted

Employers are prohibited from penalizing employees in any method because the employee exercised ESA rights.

Clients of short-lived aid agencies are forbidden from penalizing task workers in any way because the task employee worked out ESA rights.

Recruiters are forbidden from penalizing potential workers who engage or utilize the employer’s services in any way for particular reasons, consisting of asking the employer to comply with the Act or inquiring about whether a person holds a licence as needed by the ESA.

Employers, clients of temporary assistance firms and recruiters who devote a reprisal can be:

– ordered to compensate the worker, project staff member or potential employee.

– purchased to reinstate the staff member or project employee (if the reprisal was devoted by an employer or client of a temporary assistance company).

– purchased to pay a penalty.

– prosecuted.

Find out more about reprisals.

Greater right or benefit

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

No waiving of rights

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

– an order to renew and/or compensate.

– prosecution.

Other workplace-related laws

The ESA includes only a few of the guidelines 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 Safety Act.

Workplace Safety and job 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 affecting work environments consist of statutes on earnings tax, work insurance coverage and the Canada Pension.

To learn more 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 companies in Ontario are covered by the ESA. However, the ESA does not apply to some individuals and individuals or job companies they work for, such as:

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

– people working under a program authorized by a college of used arts and technology or university.

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

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

– authorities officers (except for the lie detectors arrangements 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.

– people who hold political, judicial, spiritual or elected trade union offices.

– major junior ice hockey gamers who meet certain conditions associated with scholarships.

– individuals who meet the definition of business consultant or info innovation specialist under the ESA if certain conditions are fulfilled.

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

Employee misclassification

Employers are restricted from misclassifying workers as independent specialists, interns, volunteers or any other kind of employee not covered by the ESA.

Discover more about worker misclassification.

Additional resources

In addition to this guide, the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, job Training and Skills Development (MLITSD) has extra resources readily available to help you:

– The Employment Standards Act Policy and Interpretation Manual is the main recommendation source for the policies of the Director of Employment Standards appreciating the interpretation, administration and enforcement of the ESA.

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