Your Guide to The Employment Standards Act
This guide is a convenient source of information about crucial sections of the ESA. It is for your information and support only. It is not a legal file. If you require information or exact language, please describe the ESA itself and its regulations.
This guide needs to not be utilized as or thought about legal recommendations. You may have greater rights under an employment agreement, collective agreement, the common law or other legislation. If you’re uncertain about anything in this guide, please speak to a lawyer.
Topics covered by the ESA?
These include:
benefit strategies
bereavement leave
child death leave
crime-related child disappearance leave
critical health problem leave
stated emergency leave
domestic or sexual violence leave
the employment requirements poster: circulation requirements
equivalent pay for equivalent work
family caregiver leave
household medical leave
family duty leave
suing
hours of work, eating periods and pause
transmittable disease emergency leave
licensing – temporary aid companies and recruiters
lie detector tests
minimum wage
non-compete contracts
organ donor leave
overtime pay
payment of salaries
pregnancy and adult leave
public vacations
reservist leave
severance of work
sick leave
short-lived aid firms
termination of work and temporary layoffs
suggestions or gratuities
trip.
composed policy on disconnecting from work.
composed policy on electronic tracking of staff members.
Reprisals are forbidden
Employers are prohibited from penalizing workers in any method due to the fact that the worker worked out ESA rights.
Clients of short-lived assistance agencies are forbidden from penalizing task employees in any method because the assignment worker worked out ESA rights.
Recruiters are prohibited from punishing prospective workers who engage or use the recruiter’s services in any way for particular reasons, including asking the employer to adhere to the Act or inquiring about whether an individual holds a licence as needed by the ESA.
Employers, clients of short-lived aid companies and recruiters who commit a reprisal can be:
– bought to compensate the employee, referall.us project worker or potential worker.
– bought to restore the worker or assignment employee (if the reprisal was devoted by an employer or client of a momentary help agency).
– bought to pay a charge.
– prosecuted.
Discover more about reprisals.
Greater right or benefit
If a provision in a work agreement or another Act gives an employee a greater right or advantage than a minimum employment standard under the ESA then that provision applies to the employee rather of the employment standard.
No waiving of rights
No worker can consent to waive or give up their rights under the ESA (for instance, the right to get overtime pay or public holiday pay). Any such agreement is null and space.
Enforcement and compliance
Violations of the ESA can lead to enforcement action.
The type of enforcement action that can be taken depends upon which arrangement 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 restore and/or compensate.
– prosecution.
Other workplace-related laws
The ESA consists of just some of the guidelines affecting work in Ontario. Other provincial and federal legislation governs problems such as workplace health and safety, human rights and somalibidders.com labour relations.
Related Ontario laws include the:
Occupational Health and Safety Act.
Workplace Safety and 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 impacting workplaces include statutes on income tax, employment insurance 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 employees and companies in Ontario are covered by the ESA. However, the ESA does not use to some people and individuals or companies they work for, such as:
– staff members and companies in sectors that fall under federal work law jurisdiction, such as airlines, banks, the federal civil service, post workplaces, radio and television stations and inter-provincial railways.
– people working under a program authorized by a college of used arts and innovation or university.
working under a program that is approved by a profession college signed up 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 community participation under the Ontario Works Act, 1997.
– law enforcement officer (other than for the lie detectors arrangements of the ESA, which do apply).
– inmates participating 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 players who meet particular conditions associated with scholarships.
– individuals who meet the meaning of company specialist or infotech consultant under the ESA if particular conditions are met.
For a complete listing of other individuals not governed by the ESA, please check the ESA and its policies.
Employee misclassification
Employers are forbidden from misclassifying staff members as independent specialists, interns, volunteers or any other kind 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 main recommendation source for 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 details centre from Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m.