Your Guide to The Employment Standards Act

This guide is a hassle-free source of info about key sections of the ESA. It is for your information and assistance just. It is not a legal file. If you require information or specific language, please describe the ESA itself and its regulations.

This guide needs to not be utilized as or thought about legal advice. You might have higher rights under a work contract, cumulative arrangement, 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 include:

advantage plans

bereavement leave

kid death leave

crime-related kid disappearance leave

crucial illness leave

stated emergency situation leave

domestic or sexual violence leave

the work requirements poster: circulation requirements

equivalent pay for equivalent work

household caretaker leave

family medical leave

household responsibility leave

suing

hours of work, consuming periods and pause

infectious disease emergency situation leave

licensing – short-term assistance firms and employers

lie detector tests

base pay

non-compete agreements

organ donor leave

overtime pay

payment of wages

pregnancy and parental leave

public holidays

reservist leave

severance of work

authorized leave

short-term assistance agencies

termination of work and temporary layoffs

tips or gratuities

holiday.

composed policy on detaching from work.

composed policy on electronic tracking of workers.

Reprisals are restricted

Employers are prohibited from punishing workers in any method because the worker worked out ESA rights.

Clients of short-term help companies are prohibited from penalizing task employees in any way due to the fact that the task worker exercised ESA rights.

Recruiters are restricted from penalizing prospective employees who engage or utilize the recruiter’s services in any way for certain reasons, including asking the recruiter to abide by the Act or inquiring about whether an individual holds a licence as needed by the ESA.

Employers, customers of short-term help firms and recruiters who commit a reprisal can be:

– bought to compensate the worker, project staff member or prospective staff member.

– ordered to renew the or task employee (if the reprisal was devoted by an employer or client of a short-lived aid agency).

– purchased to pay a charge.

– prosecuted.

Find out more about reprisals.

Greater right or advantage

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

No waiving of rights

No staff member can concur to waive or provide up their rights under the ESA (for employment instance, the right to get overtime pay or public holiday pay). Any such contract 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 conflict with a financial penalty.

– an order to restore and/or compensate.

– prosecution.

Other workplace-related laws

The ESA contains just some of the guidelines affecting operate in Ontario. Other provincial and federal legislation governs problems such as workplace health and safety, 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.

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 workplaces consist of statutes on earnings tax, employment insurance coverage and the Canada Pension.

For additional information about federal laws, employment 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 people and the people or organizations they work for, employment such as:

– workers and companies 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.

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

– individuals working under a program that is approved by a profession college signed up under the Ontario Career Colleges Act, 2005.

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

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

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

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

– individuals who hold political, judicial, religious or elected trade union offices.

– major junior ice hockey gamers who fulfill certain conditions related to scholarships.

– people who meet the definition of organization specialist or infotech expert under the ESA if particular conditions are met.

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

Employee misclassification

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

Discover more about staff member misclassification.

Additional resources

In addition to this guide, the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development (MLITSD) has additional resources available to assist you:

– The Employment Standards Act Policy and Interpretation Manual is the main referral source for the policies of the Director of Employment Standards respecting the analysis, 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 offered in many languages. You can reach the information centre from Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m.