This guide is a practical source of info about crucial sections of the ESA. It is for your info and assistance only. It is not a legal file. If you need details or specific language, please describe the ESA itself and its regulations.

This guide should not be utilized as or thought about legal guidance. You might have greater rights under an employment agreement, cumulative contract, the common law or other legislation. If you're not sure about anything in this guide, please talk to a lawyer.

Topics covered by the ESA?

These consist of:

benefit strategies
bereavement leave
child death leave
crime-related kid disappearance leave
critical illness leave
stated emergency leave
domestic or sexual violence leave
the employment requirements poster: circulation requirements
equal pay for equal work
household caretaker leave
family medical leave
family responsibility leave
filing a claim
hours of work, eating periods and rest periods
transmittable illness emergency leave
licensing - temporary assistance agencies and recruiters
lie detector tests
base pay
non-compete agreements
organ donor job leave
overtime pay
payment of earnings
pregnancy and parental leave
public vacations
reservist leave
severance of work
authorized leave
short-lived help agencies
termination of employment and momentary layoffs
pointers or gratuities
trip.
written policy on detaching from work.
on electronic monitoring of staff members.
Reprisals are prohibited

Employers are forbidden from penalizing workers in any way since the employee worked out ESA rights.

Clients of short-term aid companies are prohibited from punishing project staff members in any way since the assignment worker exercised ESA rights.

Recruiters are restricted from penalizing prospective staff members who engage or utilize the recruiter's services in any method for certain factors, consisting of asking the employer to comply with the Act or inquiring about whether a person holds a licence as required by the ESA.

Employers, customers of short-lived help companies and employers who dedicate a reprisal can be:

- purchased to compensate the employee, assignment worker or prospective worker.
- ordered to reinstate the worker or job assignment staff member (if the reprisal was devoted by a company or customer of a short-lived help firm).
- ordered to pay a penalty.
- prosecuted.
Learn more about reprisals.

Greater right or advantage

If a provision in an employment contract or another Act gives a worker a higher right or advantage than a minimum work requirement under the ESA then that provision uses to the worker rather of the work requirement.

No waiving of rights

No employee can accept waive or quit their rights under the ESA (for example, the right to get overtime pay or public vacation pay). Any such arrangement 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 provision of the ESA was contravened. Examples include:

- an order to pay.
- a compliance order.
- a ticket.
- a notice of breach with a financial penalty.
- an order to restore and/or compensate.
- prosecution.
Other workplace-related laws

The ESA includes just some of the rules affecting 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, 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 work environments consist of statutes on income tax, employment insurance 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 employees and companies in Ontario are covered by the ESA. However, job the ESA does not apply to some people and individuals or companies they work for, such as:

- workers and employers in sectors that fall under federal work law jurisdiction, such as airline companies, banks, the federal civil service, post offices, radio and television stations and inter-provincial railways.
- people working under a program approved by a college of used arts and technology or university.
- individuals 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 trainee is enrolled.
- people who do community participation under the Ontario Works Act, 1997.
- policeman (other than for job the lie detectors arrangements of the ESA, which do apply).
- prisoners taking part in work or rehab programs, or people who work as part of a sentence or order of a court.
- people who hold political, judicial, spiritual or elected trade union workplaces.
- major junior ice hockey players who fulfill certain conditions related to scholarships.
- people who meet the meaning of business consultant or infotech specialist under the ESA if specific conditions are satisfied.
For a complete listing of other people not governed by the ESA, please examine the ESA and its guidelines.

Employee misclassification

Employers are restricted from misclassifying workers as independent professionals, 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, job Immigration, Training and Skills Development (MLITSD) has additional resources available to assist you:

- The Employment Standards Act Policy and job Interpretation Manual is the primary reference 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 available to answer your concerns about the ESA. Information is readily available in lots of languages. You can reach the info centre from Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m.