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

This guide must not be utilized as or employment thought about legal guidance. You may have greater rights under an employment agreement, cumulative agreement, the typical law or other legislation. If you're not sure about anything in this guide, please talk with a legal representative.

Topics covered by the ESA?

These consist of:

benefit plans
bereavement leave
kid death leave
crime-related child disappearance leave
crucial illness leave
stated emergency situation leave
domestic or sexual violence leave
the employment standards poster: circulation requirements
equal spend for equivalent work
family caretaker leave
family medical leave
household duty leave
submitting a claim
hours of work, consuming periods and rest durations
transmittable illness emergency situation leave
licensing - short-term assistance firms and employers
lie detector tests
base pay
non-compete arrangements
organ donor leave
overtime pay
payment of wages
pregnancy and parental leave
public vacations
reservist leave
severance of work
authorized leave
temporary help companies
termination of employment and short-term layoffs
ideas or gratuities
.
composed policy on detaching from work.
written policy on electronic tracking of staff members.
Reprisals are restricted

Employers are prohibited from penalizing employees in any method because the employee worked out ESA rights.

Clients of temporary aid agencies are restricted from punishing project employees in any way because the task staff member exercised ESA rights.

Recruiters are forbidden from penalizing prospective employees who engage or employment use the recruiter's services in any method for specific reasons, including asking the recruiter to abide by the Act or investigating about whether a person holds a licence as required by the ESA.

Employers, customers of momentary help agencies and recruiters who commit a reprisal can be:

- ordered to compensate the employee, project employee or prospective employee.
- bought to restore the staff member or task employee (if the reprisal was dedicated by an employer or customer of a short-lived help agency).
- purchased to pay a charge.
- prosecuted.
Find out more about reprisals.

Greater right or benefit

If an arrangement in a work agreement or another Act offers a worker a greater right or advantage than a minimum employment standard under the ESA then that arrangement applies to the employee rather of the employment standard.

No waiving of rights

No employee can agree to waive or quit their rights under the ESA (for employment instance, the right to receive overtime pay or public vacation pay). Any such agreement 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 include:

- an order to pay.
- a compliance order.
- a ticket.
- a notification of conflict with a monetary charge.
- an order to renew and/or compensate.
- prosecution.
Other workplace-related laws

The ESA contains just a few of the rules affecting operate in Ontario. Other provincial and federal legislation governs concerns such as workplace health and wellness, 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.
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 affecting workplaces consist of statutes on income tax, employment insurance and the Canada Pension.

For more details about federal laws, call the Government of Canada details 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 apply 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 airline companies, banks, the federal civil service, post workplaces, radio and tv stations and inter-provincial railways.
- individuals working under a program authorized by a college of applied arts and innovation or university.
- people working under a program that is approved by a career 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 registered.
- people who do community involvement under the Ontario Works Act, 1997.
- law enforcement officer (other than for the lie detectors provisions of the ESA, which do apply).
- inmates taking part in work or employment 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.
- significant junior ice hockey gamers who meet certain conditions associated with scholarships.
- people who meet the definition of business expert or infotech specialist under the ESA if certain conditions are fulfilled.
For a complete listing of other individuals not governed by the ESA, please check the ESA and its regulations.

Employee misclassification

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

Learn more about worker misclassification.

Additional resources

In addition to this guide, the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development (MLITSD) has additional resources readily available to help you:

- The Employment Standards Act Policy and employment Interpretation Manual is the primary reference 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 lots of languages. You can reach the info centre from Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m.