This guide is a hassle-free source of details about key areas of the ESA. It is for your details and assistance only. It is not a legal document. If you require details or exact language, please refer to the ESA itself and its policies.

This guide must not be utilized as or considered legal suggestions. You might have greater rights under an employment contract, collective contract, the common law or other legislation. If you’re unsure about anything in this guide, please speak to a lawyer.

Topics covered by the ESA?

These include:

benefit plans
bereavement leave
child death leave
crime-related kid disappearance leave
crucial health problem leave
declared emergency situation leave
domestic or sexual violence leave
the employment standards poster: distribution requirements
equal pay for equivalent work
family caretaker leave
family medical leave
family duty leave
submitting a claim
hours of work, consuming durations and rest durations
infectious disease emergency leave
licensing - short-lived aid companies and employers
lie detector tests
base pay
non-compete contracts
organ donor leave
overtime pay
payment of salaries
pregnancy and parental leave
public vacations
reservist leave
severance of work
authorized leave
short-term aid firms
termination of employment and short-term layoffs
tips or gratuities
holiday.
written policy on disconnecting from work.
written policy on electronic monitoring of workers.
Reprisals are prohibited

Employers are restricted from punishing employees in any way since the staff member exercised ESA rights.

Clients of momentary assistance companies are restricted from penalizing project workers in any way since the project employee exercised ESA rights.

Recruiters are forbidden from penalizing potential employees who engage or utilize the recruiter’s services in any method for specific factors, consisting of 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 momentary assistance firms and employers who commit a reprisal can be:

- purchased to compensate the worker, project staff member or prospective employee.
- bought to renew the staff member or project employee (if the reprisal was committed by an employer or client of a momentary aid company).
- ordered to pay a penalty.
- prosecuted.
Discover more about reprisals.

Greater right or advantage

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

No waiving of rights

No staff member can agree to waive or quit their rights under the ESA (for example, 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 result in enforcement action.

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

- 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 consists of only some of the guidelines impacting work in Ontario. Other provincial and accc.rcec.sinica.edu.tw 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 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 Plan.

For more info about federal laws, call the Government of Canada details 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 people and individuals or companies they work for, such as:

- workers and companies in sectors that fall under federal work law jurisdiction, such as airlines, banks, the federal civil service, post offices, radio and television stations and inter-provincial railways.
- individuals 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 registered under the Ontario Career Colleges Act, 2005.
- secondary school trainees who work under a work experience program licensed by the school board that operates the school in which the trainee is registered.
- individuals who do community participation under the Ontario Works Act, 1997.
- police officers (other than for the lie detectors arrangements of the ESA, which do use).
- prisoners participating 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 offices.
- major junior ice hockey players who meet certain conditions connected to scholarships.
- people who fulfill the meaning of service expert or details innovation expert under the ESA if certain conditions are satisfied.
For a total listing of other not governed by the ESA, please inspect the ESA and its policies.

Employee misclassification

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

Learn more about employee misclassification.

Additional resources

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

- The Employment Standards Act Policy and Interpretation Manual is the primary referral source for the policies of the Director of Employment Standards appreciating 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 available in numerous languages. You can reach the info centre from Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m.