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Your Guide to The Employment Standards Act

This guide is a practical source of information about essential sections of the ESA. It is for your details and help just. It is not a legal file. If you require information or specific language, please refer to the ESA itself and its policies.

This guide must not be used as or considered legal advice. You may have higher rights under an employment agreement, collective arrangement, the common law or other legislation. If you’re uncertain about anything in this guide, please talk with an attorney.

Topics covered by the ESA?

These include:

benefit strategies

bereavement leave

child death leave

crime-related child disappearance leave

critical illness leave

declared emergency leave

domestic or employment sexual violence leave

the employment standards poster: circulation requirements

equivalent pay for equal work

family caretaker leave

household medical leave

household responsibility leave

suing

hours of work, consuming durations and rest durations

contagious disease emergency leave

licensing – short-term help companies and employers

lie detector tests

base pay

non-compete contracts

organ donor leave

overtime pay

payment of earnings

pregnancy and adult leave

public holidays

reservist leave

severance of employment

authorized leave

short-term aid firms

termination of employment and short-term layoffs

pointers or gratuities

vacation.

written policy on disconnecting from work.

written policy on electronic monitoring of staff members.

Reprisals are prohibited

Employers are restricted from punishing workers in any way due to the fact that the worker exercised ESA rights.

Clients of temporary assistance companies are prohibited from penalizing assignment employees in any way because the project employee exercised ESA rights.

Recruiters are prohibited from penalizing potential employees who engage or use the employer’s services in any way for specific factors, including asking the recruiter to comply with the Act or making inquiries about whether an individual holds a licence as required by the ESA.

Employers, clients of short-term help companies and employers who commit a reprisal can be:

– ordered to compensate the worker, task employee or prospective employee.

– ordered to renew the worker or assignment employee (if the reprisal was dedicated by an employer or client of a temporary aid company).

– ordered to pay a penalty.

– prosecuted.

Learn more about reprisals.

Greater right or benefit

If a provision in an employment agreement or another Act provides a worker a higher right or advantage than a minimum employment requirement under the ESA then that provision uses to the worker instead of the employment requirement.

No waiving of rights

No worker can accept waive or give up their rights under the ESA (for instance, 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 result in enforcement action.

The type of enforcement action that can be taken depends upon which provision of the ESA was contravened. Examples include:

– an order to pay.

– a compliance order.

– a ticket.

– a notification of conflict with a monetary penalty.

– an order to restore and/or compensate.

– prosecution.

Other workplace-related laws

The ESA consists of just some of the rules affecting work in Ontario. Other provincial and federal legislation governs problems such as workplace health and wellness, human rights and labour relations.

Related Ontario laws include the:

Occupational Health And Wellness Act.

Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997.

Labour Relations Act, 1995.

Pay Equity Act.

Human Rights Code.

For additional 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 work environments consist of statutes on earnings tax, work insurance coverage and the Canada Pension Plan.

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 workers and employers in Ontario are covered by the ESA. However, the ESA does not apply to some people and the individuals or companies they work for, such as:

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

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

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

– secondary school trainees who work under a work experience program authorized by the school board that operates the school in which the student is registered.

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

– policeman (other than for the lie detectors provisions of the ESA, which do use).

– prisoners participating 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 elected trade union workplaces.

– significant junior ice hockey players who satisfy particular conditions associated with scholarships.

– individuals who satisfy the meaning of service specialist or infotech specialist under the ESA if particular conditions are met.

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

Employee misclassification

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

Learn more about employee misclassification.

Additional resources

In addition to this guide, the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development (MLITSD) has additional resources readily 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 appreciating the interpretation, administration and enforcement of the ESA.

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