Your Guide to The Employment Standards Act

This guide is a practical source of details about essential sections of the ESA. It is for your info and assistance just. It is not a legal file. If you need information or exact language, please describe the ESA itself and its guidelines.

This guide ought to not be utilized as or considered legal advice. You might 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 legal representative.

Topics covered by the ESA?

These consist of:

bereavement leave

kid death leave

crime-related kid disappearance leave

crucial disease leave

declared emergency situation leave

domestic or employment sexual violence leave

the work requirements poster: circulation requirements

equivalent spend for equal work

household caregiver leave

family medical leave

household duty leave

submitting a claim

hours of work, consuming durations and pause

transmittable illness emergency leave

licensing – momentary assistance firms and recruiters

lie detector tests

minimum wage

non-compete agreements

organ donor leave

overtime pay

payment of earnings

pregnancy and parental leave

public vacations

reservist leave

severance of employment

authorized leave

momentary help companies

termination of work and momentary layoffs

pointers or gratuities

trip.

written policy on detaching from work.

written policy on electronic monitoring of employees.

Reprisals are restricted

Employers are prohibited from punishing employees in any way due to the fact that the staff member exercised ESA rights.

Clients of momentary assistance firms are forbidden from punishing task employees in any way because the task worker exercised ESA rights.

Recruiters are restricted from penalizing potential workers who engage or use the employer’s services in any way for particular reasons, including asking the employer to abide by the Act or making queries about whether a person holds a licence as needed by the ESA.

Employers, clients of momentary assistance agencies and recruiters who devote a reprisal can be:

– bought to compensate the worker, assignment employee or prospective worker.

– purchased to reinstate the employee or assignment worker (if the reprisal was committed by an employer or customer of a short-term aid agency).

– bought to pay a charge.

– prosecuted.

Discover more about reprisals.

Greater right or benefit

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

No waiving of rights

No worker can accept waive or provide up their rights under the ESA (for example, the right to receive overtime pay or public vacation pay). Any such agreement 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 provision of the ESA was contravened. Examples consist of:

– an order to pay.

– a compliance order.

– a ticket.

– a notification of contravention with a financial penalty.

– an order to reinstate and/or compensate.

– prosecution.

Other workplace-related laws

The ESA includes only a few of the guidelines affecting operate in Ontario. Other provincial and federal legislation governs problems 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 more info 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 consist of statutes on earnings tax, employment employment insurance and the Canada Pension Plan.

To learn more about federal laws, call the Government of Canada details 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 the people or companies they work for, such as:

– staff members and employers in sectors that fall under federal work law jurisdiction, such as airlines, banks, the federal civil service, post offices, radio and television stations and inter-provincial trains.

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

– people working under a program that is approved by a career college registered under the Ontario Career Colleges Act, employment 2005.

– secondary school students who work under a work experience program licensed by the school board that runs the school in which the trainee is enrolled.

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

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

– prisoners taking part in work or rehab programs, or people who work as part of a sentence or order of a court.

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

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

– individuals who satisfy the meaning of service consultant or information technology consultant under the ESA if particular conditions are met.

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

Employee misclassification

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

Learn more about staff member misclassification.

Additional resources

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