Your Guide to The Employment Standards Act
This guide is a hassle-free source of details about essential areas of the ESA. It is for your information and help only. It is not a legal file. If you require information or exact language, please refer to the ESA itself and its regulations.
This guide needs to not be used as or considered . You might have greater rights under an employment agreement, collective contract, the common law or other legislation. If you're not sure about anything in this guide, please talk to a lawyer.
Topics covered by the ESA?
These consist of:
benefit strategies
bereavement leave
kid death leave
crime-related child disappearance leave
critical illness leave
declared emergency situation leave
domestic or sexual violence leave
the employment standards poster: circulation requirements
equal spend for equal work
household caregiver leave
household medical leave
family obligation leave
suing
hours of work, eating durations and pause
transmittable disease emergency situation leave
licensing - short-term help companies and recruiters
lie detector tests
base pay
non-compete contracts
organ donor leave
overtime pay
payment of earnings
pregnancy and parental leave
public vacations
reservist leave
severance of work
authorized leave
short-lived help companies
termination of work and short-term layoffs
ideas or gratuities
getaway.
written policy on detaching from work.
composed policy on electronic monitoring of workers.
Reprisals are prohibited
Employers are prohibited from penalizing staff members in any method since the staff member worked out ESA rights.
Clients of short-term aid companies are forbidden from penalizing project staff members in any way because the project staff member exercised ESA rights.
Recruiters are forbidden from penalizing potential staff members who engage or utilize the employer's services in any method for certain factors, consisting of asking the employer to adhere to the Act or referall.us investigating about whether an individual holds a licence as needed by the ESA.
Employers, clients of momentary help companies and employers who commit a reprisal can be:
- ordered to compensate the staff member, assignment worker or prospective employee.
- bought to renew the employee or project staff member (if the reprisal was committed by an employer or customer of a momentary aid firm).
- bought to pay a penalty.
- prosecuted.
Discover more about reprisals.
Greater right or benefit
If a provision in a work agreement or another Act provides a staff member a higher right or advantage than a minimum employment requirement under the ESA then that arrangement applies to the staff member instead of the employment requirement.
No waiving of rights
No staff member can consent to 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 lead to enforcement action.
The type of enforcement action that can be taken depends upon which provision of the ESA was contravened. Examples consist of:
- 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 contains only a few of the guidelines impacting work in Ontario. Other provincial and federal legislation governs problems such as workplace health and security, human rights and labour relations.
Related Ontario laws consist of 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 affecting work environments consist of statutes on earnings tax, employment insurance coverage and the Canada Pension.
For additional information 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 employers in Ontario are covered by the ESA. However, the ESA does not use to some individuals and 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 tv stations and inter-provincial trains.
- people working under a program approved by a college of used arts and technology or university.
- people 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 authorized by the school board that operates the school in which the student 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 use).
- inmates participating in work or rehabilitation 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 offices.
- major junior ice hockey gamers who fulfill specific conditions associated with scholarships.
- individuals who meet the definition of organization specialist or info technology consultant under the ESA if particular conditions are fulfilled.
For a total listing of other individuals not governed by the ESA, please inspect the ESA and its policies.
Employee misclassification
Employers are forbidden from misclassifying staff members as independent professionals, interns, volunteers or any other type of employee not covered by the ESA.
Discover more about worker misclassification.
Additional resources
In addition to this guide, the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development (MLITSD) has additional resources offered to help you:
- The Employment Standards Act Policy and Interpretation Manual is the main referral 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 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.
