This guide is a practical source of information about key sections of the ESA. It is for your information and help just. It is not a legal document. If you require details or specific language, please describe the ESA itself and its regulations.

This guide ought to not be utilized as or thought about legal recommendations. You might have higher rights under an employment agreement, cumulative arrangement, the common law or other legislation. If you’re uncertain about anything in this guide, please talk to a lawyer.

Topics covered by the ESA?

These include:

benefit strategies
bereavement leave
kid death leave
crime-related kid disappearance leave
crucial illness leave
stated emergency situation leave
domestic or sexual violence leave
the employment standards poster: distribution requirements
equivalent spend for equal work
household caretaker leave
family medical leave
household obligation leave
suing
hours of work, consuming durations and pause
infectious illness emergency leave
licensing - temporary help firms and recruiters
lie detector tests
minimum wage
non-compete contracts
organ donor leave
overtime pay
payment of earnings
pregnancy and employment adult leave
public vacations
reservist leave
severance of work
sick leave
temporary assistance agencies
termination of employment and temporary layoffs
tips or gratuities
vacation.
written policy on detaching from work.
written policy on electronic monitoring of workers.
Reprisals are prohibited

Employers are forbidden from penalizing staff members in any way due to the fact that the employee exercised ESA rights.

Clients of temporary aid firms are forbidden from penalizing task workers in any way due to the fact that the assignment worker exercised ESA rights.

Recruiters are restricted from punishing potential employees who engage or utilize the employer’s services in any way for certain reasons, including asking the recruiter to comply with the Act or investigating about whether an individual holds a licence as required by the ESA.

Employers, clients of temporary assistance firms and employment employers who dedicate a reprisal can be:

- bought to compensate the staff member, task staff member or prospective staff member.
- purchased to renew the staff member or assignment worker (if the reprisal was committed by a company or customer of a momentary aid firm).
- ordered to pay a charge.
- prosecuted.
Find out more about reprisals.

Greater right or advantage

If a provision in an employment agreement or another Act gives an employee a higher right or advantage than a minimum under the ESA then that arrangement applies to the employee instead of the work requirement.

No waiving of rights

No worker can accept waive or offer up their rights under the ESA (for 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 lead to enforcement action.

The kind of enforcement action that can be taken depends upon which provision 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 restore and/or compensate.
- prosecution.
Other workplace-related laws

The ESA consists of only some of the guidelines impacting operate in Ontario. Other provincial and federal legislation governs concerns such as workplace health and safety, human rights and labour relations.

Related Ontario laws include the:

Occupational Health And Wellness Act.
Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997.
Labour Relations Act, employment 1995.
Pay Equity Act.
Human Rights Code.
For more details 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 include statutes on income tax, work insurance coverage and the Canada Pension.

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 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 employers in sectors that fall under federal work law jurisdiction, such as airlines, banks, the federal civil service, post offices, radio and tv stations and employment inter-provincial railways.
- 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 career college signed up under the Ontario Career Colleges Act, 2005.
- secondary school students who work under a work experience program licensed by the school board that runs the school in which the trainee is registered.
- people who do neighborhood involvement under the Ontario Works Act, 1997.
- cops officers (except for the lie detectors arrangements of the ESA, which do apply).
- inmates participating in work or rehabilitation programs, or people who work as part of a sentence or order of a court.
- individuals who hold political, judicial, spiritual or chosen trade union workplaces.
- significant junior ice hockey gamers who meet specific conditions connected to scholarships.
- people who meet the meaning of company consultant or details innovation consultant under the ESA if particular conditions are fulfilled.
For a complete listing of other people not governed by the ESA, please inspect the ESA and employment its regulations.

Employee misclassification

Employers are prohibited from misclassifying workers as independent specialists, interns, volunteers or any other type of employee not covered by the ESA.

Find out more about worker misclassification.

Additional resources

In addition to this guide, employment the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, 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 readily available to answer your questions about the ESA. Information is offered in many languages. You can reach the info centre from Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m.