This guide is a hassle-free source of information about key sections of the ESA. It is for your information and assistance just. It is not a legal document. If you need information or precise language, please refer to the ESA itself and its regulations.
This guide must not be used as or thought about legal recommendations. You might have greater rights under a work agreement, collective arrangement, the typical law or other legislation. If you're not sure about anything in this guide, please speak with a lawyer.
Topics covered by the ESA?
These include:
advantage strategies
bereavement leave
child death leave
crime-related child disappearance leave
critical illness leave
declared emergency leave
domestic or sexual violence leave
the employment requirements poster: circulation requirements
equivalent spend for equal work
household caretaker leave
family medical leave
family responsibility leave
suing
hours of work, eating periods and pause
transmittable illness emergency leave
licensing - momentary assistance 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 employment
ill leave
momentary assistance firms
termination of work and short-term layoffs
pointers or gratuities
getaway.
composed policy on detaching from work.
written policy on electronic tracking of employees.
Reprisals are forbidden
Employers are restricted from punishing workers in any method because the employee worked out ESA rights.
Clients of momentary aid firms are prohibited from penalizing task workers in any way since the project worker worked out ESA rights.
Recruiters are forbidden from penalizing potential employees who engage or utilize the employer's services in any method for certain factors, including asking the recruiter to comply with the Act or making queries about whether a person holds a licence as required by the ESA.
Employers, clients of short-lived assistance firms and who devote a reprisal can be:
- bought to compensate the employee, project worker or prospective employee.
- bought to reinstate the staff member or project staff member (if the reprisal was committed by a company or customer of a temporary assistance company).
- ordered to pay a charge.
- prosecuted.
Find out more about reprisals.
Greater right or advantage
If an arrangement in an employment agreement or another Act offers a worker a higher right or advantage than a minimum employment standard under the ESA then that provision uses to the staff member rather of the work standard.
No waiving of rights
No staff member can agree to waive or quit their rights under the ESA (for instance, the right to get 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 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 notice of contravention with a monetary penalty.
- an order to reinstate and/or compensate.
- prosecution.
Other workplace-related laws
The ESA includes just some of the guidelines impacting operate in Ontario. Other provincial and federal legislation governs issues 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.
To learn 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 impacting work environments consist of statutes on income tax, employment insurance and employment the Canada Pension Plan.
For more details about federal laws, call the Government of Canada info 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 use to some individuals and the people or companies they work for, such as:
- workers and employers in sectors that fall under federal work law jurisdiction, such as airlines, banks, the federal civil service, post workplaces, radio and tv stations and inter-provincial trains.
- people working under a program authorized by a college of applied arts and innovation or university.
- individuals working under a program that is approved by a profession college registered under the Ontario Career Colleges Act, 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 enrolled.
- people who do community participation under the Ontario Works Act, 1997.
- law enforcement officer (except for the lie detectors provisions of the ESA, which do use).
- inmates taking part in work or rehabilitation programs, or people who work as part of a sentence or order of a court.
- people who hold political, judicial, spiritual or chosen trade union workplaces.
- major junior ice hockey gamers who meet certain conditions related to scholarships.
- individuals who meet the definition of business consultant or infotech specialist under the ESA if particular conditions are met.
For a total listing of other people not governed by the ESA, please examine the ESA and its regulations.
Employee misclassification
Employers are restricted from misclassifying workers 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, employment Training and Skills Development (MLITSD) has additional resources offered to assist you:
- The Employment Standards Act Policy and Interpretation Manual is the primary recommendation 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 answer your concerns about the ESA. Information is available in many languages. You can reach the info centre from Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m.
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Your Guide to The Employment Standards Act
Ada Flatt edited this page 2 weeks ago