This guide is a convenient source of info about key areas of the ESA. It is for your info and support only. It is not a legal document. If you need details or specific language, please describe the ESA itself and its guidelines.
This guide needs to not be used as or thought about legal suggestions. You may have greater rights under an employment agreement, collective agreement, the common law or other legislation. If you're not sure about anything in this guide, please talk to an attorney.
Topics covered by the ESA?
These include:
benefit plans
bereavement leave
child death leave
crime-related kid disappearance leave
important health problem leave
declared emergency situation leave
domestic or sexual violence leave
the work requirements poster: job distribution requirements
equal pay for equivalent work
household caretaker leave
family medical leave
family obligation leave
suing
hours of work, consuming durations and pause
transmittable disease emergency situation leave
licensing - momentary help agencies and recruiters
lie detector tests
base pay
non-compete contracts
organ donor leave
overtime pay
payment of earnings
pregnancy and parental leave
public holidays
reservist leave
severance of employment
authorized leave
momentary aid companies
termination of employment and short-term layoffs
pointers or gratuities
vacation.
written policy on detaching from work.
written policy on electronic monitoring of staff members.
Reprisals are restricted
Employers are restricted from penalizing workers in any method because the staff member exercised ESA rights.
Clients of short-term aid agencies are forbidden from penalizing task staff members in any method due to the fact that the project staff member worked out ESA rights.
Recruiters are restricted from punishing prospective employees who engage or utilize the recruiter's services in any way for particular factors, including asking the employer to comply with the Act or making questions about whether an individual holds a licence as needed by the ESA.
Employers, job clients of short-lived assistance agencies and employers who dedicate a reprisal can be:
- purchased to compensate the employee, project staff member or prospective worker.
- ordered to restore the worker or task employee (if the reprisal was committed by an employer or client of a temporary assistance company).
- bought to pay a penalty.
- prosecuted.
Learn more about reprisals.
Greater right or benefit
If an arrangement in an employment contract or another Act offers a worker a greater right or benefit than a minimum employment standard under the ESA then that provision applies to the worker rather of the work requirement.
No waiving of rights
No staff member can accept waive or job offer up their rights under the ESA (for instance, the right to get overtime pay or public holiday pay). Any such contract is null and void.
Enforcement and compliance
Violations of the ESA can lead to enforcement action.
The type of enforcement action that can be taken depends on which arrangement of the ESA was contravened. Examples consist of:
- an order to pay.
- a compliance order.
- a ticket.
- a notice of conflict with a monetary penalty.
- an order to reinstate and/or compensate.
- prosecution.
Other workplace-related laws
The ESA contains only a few of the guidelines impacting operate in Ontario. Other provincial and federal legislation governs issues 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, job 1995.
Pay Equity Act.
Human Rights Code.
For more 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 include statutes on earnings tax, employment insurance coverage and the Canada Pension.
To learn more 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 companies in Ontario are covered by the ESA. However, the ESA does not apply to some people and the people or organizations 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 trains.
- people working under a program authorized by a college of used arts and job 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 students who work under a work experience program authorized by the school board that operates the school in which the student is enrolled.
- people who do community involvement under the Ontario Works Act, 1997.
- law enforcement officer (other than for the lie detectors arrangements of the ESA, which do use).
- prisoners taking part in work or rehab programs, or people who work as part of a sentence or order of a court.
- individuals who hold political, judicial, religious or elected trade union workplaces.
- significant junior ice hockey players who meet specific conditions connected to scholarships.
- individuals who satisfy the meaning of service specialist or details technology consultant under the ESA if specific conditions are fulfilled.
For a total listing of other individuals not governed by the ESA, job please inspect the ESA and its policies.
Employee misclassification
Employers are forbidden from misclassifying employees as independent contractors, interns, volunteers or any other kind of employee not covered by the ESA.
Find out more about worker misclassification.
Additional resources
In addition to this guide, the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development (MLITSD) has extra resources offered to help you:
- The Employment Standards Act Policy and Interpretation Manual is the main 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 concerns about the ESA. Information is offered in many languages. You can reach the information centre from Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m.
