Your Guide to The Employment Standards Act

This guide is a hassle-free source of information about key sections of the ESA. It is for job your details and help just. It is not a legal document. If you need details or specific language, please refer to the ESA itself and its guidelines.

This guide needs to not be used as or considered legal suggestions. You might have higher rights under an employment agreement, collective agreement, the typical law or other legislation. If you’re unsure about anything in this guide, please talk with an attorney.

Topics covered by the ESA?

These include:

advantage strategies

bereavement leave

child death leave

crime-related child disappearance leave

crucial disease leave

stated emergency situation leave

domestic or sexual violence leave

the employment requirements poster: circulation requirements

equal pay for equivalent work

household caretaker leave

household medical leave

household duty leave

suing

hours of work, consuming durations and rest periods

contagious disease emergency leave

licensing – short-term help agencies and employers

lie detector tests

base pay

non-compete agreements

organ donor leave

overtime pay

payment of earnings

pregnancy and parental leave

public vacations

reservist leave

severance of work

sick leave

short-term aid firms

termination of work and momentary layoffs

suggestions or gratuities

holiday.

composed policy on detaching from work.

composed policy on electronic tracking of employees.

Reprisals are forbidden

Employers are restricted from punishing staff members in any method because the staff member exercised ESA rights.

Clients of momentary aid agencies are prohibited from punishing task workers in any way because the task worker exercised ESA rights.

Recruiters are prohibited from punishing prospective workers who engage or utilize the employer’s services in any method for certain reasons, job consisting of asking the employer to adhere to the Act or making questions about whether a person holds a licence as needed by the ESA.

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

– bought to compensate the employee, assignment employee or potential staff member.

– bought to reinstate the staff member or task staff member (if the reprisal was devoted by an employer or customer of a temporary assistance agency).

– ordered to pay a penalty.

– prosecuted.

Discover more about reprisals.

Greater right or benefit

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

No waiving of rights

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

Enforcement and compliance

Violations of the ESA can result in enforcement action.

The kind 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 monetary penalty.

– an order to renew and/or compensate.

– prosecution.

Other workplace-related laws

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

Related Ontario laws consist of the:

Occupational Health and Safety Act.

Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997.

Labour Relations Act, 1995.

Pay Equity Act.

Human Rights Code.

For more details 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 offices consist of statutes on earnings tax, work insurance and the Canada Pension.

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

Who is not covered by the ESA?

Most employees and employers in Ontario are covered by the ESA. However, the ESA does not use to some and individuals or organizations they work for, such as:

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

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

– individuals 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 licensed by the school board that runs the school in which the trainee is registered.

– people who do neighborhood involvement under the Ontario Works Act, 1997.

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

– inmates taking part in work or rehab 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.

– significant junior ice hockey gamers who fulfill specific conditions associated with scholarships.

– individuals who meet the definition of company specialist or details technology expert under the ESA if certain conditions are met.

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

Employee misclassification

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

Find out more about worker misclassification.

Additional resources

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

– The Employment Standards Act Policy and Interpretation Manual is the primary reference source for job the policies of the Director of Employment Standards appreciating the analysis, administration and enforcement of the ESA.

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