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Your Guide to The Employment Standards Act
This guide is a hassle-free source of information about crucial sections of the ESA. It is for your information and support just. It is not a legal document. If you need information or specific language, please describe the ESA itself and its policies.
This guide should not be utilized as or thought about legal suggestions. You might have higher rights under an employment contract, cumulative agreement, the typical law or other legislation. If you’re uncertain about anything in this guide, please speak with a lawyer.
Topics covered by the ESA?
These include:
advantage plans
bereavement leave
kid death leave
crime-related child disappearance leave
critical illness leave
declared emergency situation leave
domestic or sexual violence leave
the work standards poster: distribution requirements
equivalent pay for equivalent work
household caretaker leave
household medical leave
household responsibility leave
suing
hours of work, eating durations and rest periods
infectious illness emergency situation leave
licensing – short-term help agencies and employers
lie detector tests
minimum wage
non-compete arrangements
organ donor leave
overtime pay
payment of earnings
pregnancy and employment adult leave
public vacations
reservist leave
severance of employment
authorized leave
momentary help firms
termination of work and short-lived layoffs
tips or gratuities
holiday.
composed policy on disconnecting from work.
composed policy on electronic monitoring of staff members.
Reprisals are forbidden
Employers are prohibited from penalizing staff members in any method since the staff member exercised ESA rights.
Clients of temporary assistance agencies are restricted from penalizing project workers in any way because the task staff member exercised ESA rights.
Recruiters are forbidden from punishing prospective workers who engage or utilize the recruiter’s services in any way for particular factors, employment including asking the recruiter to adhere to the Act or investigating about whether a person holds a licence as required by the ESA.
Employers, clients of short-lived help companies and recruiters who commit a reprisal can be:
– bought to compensate the employee, employment task employee or prospective employee.
– purchased to reinstate the worker or project employee (if the reprisal was dedicated by a company or client of a temporary help firm).
– ordered to pay a charge.
Find out more about reprisals.
Greater right or employment advantage
If a provision in a work contract or another Act provides a staff member a higher right or benefit than a minimum employment requirement under the ESA then that arrangement applies to the staff member rather of the work standard.
No waiving of rights
No staff member can accept waive or quit their rights under the ESA (for example, the right to get overtime pay or public vacation pay). Any such contract is null and void.
Enforcement and compliance
Violations of the ESA can lead to enforcement action.
The kind of enforcement action that can be taken depends on which provision of the ESA was contravened. Examples include:
– an order to pay.
– a compliance order.
– a ticket.
– a notification of contravention with a financial charge.
– an order to reinstate and/or compensate.
– prosecution.
Other workplace-related laws
The ESA consists of just a few of the rules affecting work in Ontario. Other provincial and federal legislation governs issues such as workplace health and safety, human rights and 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.
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 workplaces include statutes on income tax, employment insurance coverage and the Canada Pension.
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 workers and employers in Ontario are covered by the ESA. However, the ESA does not apply to some individuals and individuals or organizations they work for, such as:
– staff members and companies in sectors that fall under federal employment law jurisdiction, such as airline companies, 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 innovation or university.
– individuals working under a program that is authorized by a profession college signed up under the Ontario Career Colleges Act, 2005.
– secondary school trainees who work under a work experience program authorized by the school board that runs the school in which the student is registered.
– people who do community involvement under the Ontario Works Act, 1997.
– law enforcement officer (except for the lie detectors arrangements of the ESA, which do apply).
– 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 chosen trade union workplaces.
– major junior ice hockey gamers who meet specific conditions related to scholarships.
– individuals who satisfy the definition of service specialist or infotech expert under the ESA if certain conditions are fulfilled.
For a complete listing of other individuals not governed by the ESA, please examine the ESA and its regulations.
Employee misclassification
Employers are prohibited from misclassifying workers as independent professionals, interns, volunteers or any other kind of worker not covered by the ESA.
Discover more about employee misclassification.
Additional resources
In addition to this guide, the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and (MLITSD) has extra resources offered to assist you:
– The Employment Standards Act Policy and employment Interpretation Manual is the primary recommendation source for the policies of the Director of Employment Standards respecting the analysis, administration and enforcement of the ESA.
– Staff at the Employment Standards Information Centre are available to answer your concerns about the ESA. Information is offered in many languages. You can reach the info centre from Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m.