Your Guide to The Employment Standards Act

This guide is a convenient source of info about essential sections of the ESA. It is for employment your info and employment help just. It is not a legal file. If you require information or specific language, please describe the ESA itself and its regulations.

This guide must not be utilized as or considered legal recommendations. You may 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 to a lawyer.

Topics covered by the ESA?

These consist of:

benefit plans

bereavement leave

kid death leave

crime-related kid disappearance leave

vital illness leave

declared emergency situation leave

domestic or sexual violence leave

the work standards poster: circulation requirements

equivalent pay for equivalent work

household caretaker leave

family medical leave

family obligation leave

filing a claim

hours of work, eating periods and rest durations

contagious disease emergency situation leave

licensing – short-term assistance agencies and employers

lie detector tests

minimum wage

non-compete contracts

organ donor leave

overtime pay

payment of salaries

pregnancy and adult leave

public holidays

reservist leave

severance of employment

sick leave

short-lived help companies

termination of employment and short-term layoffs

tips or gratuities

trip.

written policy on detaching from work.

written policy on electronic monitoring of workers.

Reprisals are restricted

Employers are restricted from penalizing staff members in any way due to the fact that the employee worked out ESA rights.

Clients of momentary assistance firms are prohibited from punishing task staff members in any way because the task worker worked out ESA rights.

Recruiters are forbidden from penalizing prospective employees who engage or employment use the recruiter’s services in any way for certain factors, consisting of asking the recruiter to comply with the Act or making queries about whether a person holds a licence as needed by the ESA.

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

– purchased to compensate the worker, task staff member or prospective staff member.

– bought to restore the staff member or task staff member (if the reprisal was dedicated by an employer or customer of a momentary aid company).

– purchased to pay a charge.

– prosecuted.

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Greater right or benefit

If a provision in an employment agreement or another Act provides a worker a higher right or benefit than a minimum employment standard under the ESA then that provision uses to the employee rather of the work standard.

No waiving of rights

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

Enforcement and employment compliance

Violations of the ESA can lead to enforcement action.

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

– an order to pay.

– a compliance order.

– a ticket.

– a notice of breach with a financial penalty.

– an order to renew and/or compensate.

– prosecution.

Other workplace-related laws

The ESA contains just some of the rules impacting 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.

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 impacting offices consist of statutes on income tax, work insurance and the Canada Pension Plan.

To learn more about federal laws, call the Government of Canada info line at 1-800-622-6232.

Who is not covered by the ESA?

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

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

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

– people working under a program that is approved by a profession college registered under the Ontario Career Colleges Act, 2005.

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

– people who do community participation under the Ontario Works Act, 1997.

– law enforcement officer (except for the lie detectors arrangements of the ESA, which do apply).

– prisoners 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 workplaces.

– significant junior ice hockey gamers who fulfill certain conditions connected to scholarships.

– people who meet the definition of service consultant or infotech expert under the ESA if particular conditions are fulfilled.

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

Employee misclassification

Employers are restricted from misclassifying staff members as independent professionals, employment interns, volunteers or any other kind of employee not covered by the ESA.

Find out 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 offered to assist 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 address your questions about the ESA. Information is available in numerous languages. You can reach the details centre from Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m.