This guide is a practical source of info about essential areas of the ESA. It is for your info and help only. It is not a legal document. If you require information or specific language, please refer to the ESA itself and its policies.

This guide ought to not be utilized as or considered legal guidance. You may have higher rights under an employment agreement, job collective arrangement, the common law or other legislation. If you're unsure about anything in this guide, please talk to an attorney.

Topics covered by the ESA?

These consist of:

advantage strategies
bereavement leave
kid death leave
crime-related child disappearance leave
vital disease leave
stated emergency leave
domestic or sexual violence leave
the employment standards poster: distribution requirements
equivalent pay for equivalent work
household caregiver leave
family medical leave
leave
filing a claim
hours of work, eating periods and pause
contagious disease emergency situation leave
licensing - temporary assistance companies and employers
lie detector tests
base pay
non-compete agreements
organ donor leave
overtime pay
payment of wages
pregnancy and adult leave
public holidays
reservist leave
severance of work
ill leave
momentary help firms
termination of work and short-lived layoffs
tips or gratuities
holiday.
composed policy on detaching from work.
written policy on electronic tracking of employees.
Reprisals are restricted

Employers are prohibited from punishing workers in any way due to the fact that the worker worked out ESA rights.

Clients of temporary assistance companies are prohibited from punishing assignment employees in any way because the project staff member exercised ESA rights.

Recruiters are prohibited from penalizing prospective employees who engage or use the recruiter's services in any method for particular reasons, consisting of asking the employer to comply with the Act or job inquiring about whether an individual holds a licence as needed by the ESA.

Employers, customers of short-term aid agencies and recruiters who commit a reprisal can be:

- purchased to compensate the staff member, project staff member or prospective employee.
- ordered to restore the staff member or assignment staff member (if the reprisal was committed by an employer or client of a short-term assistance firm).
- bought to pay a charge.
- prosecuted.
Learn more about reprisals.

Greater right or benefit

If a provision in a work contract or another Act provides an employee a greater right or advantage than a minimum work requirement under the ESA then that provision uses to the worker instead of the employment standard.

No waiving of rights

No worker can concur to waive or provide up their rights under the ESA (for example, the right to receive overtime pay or public holiday pay). Any such agreement is null and space.

Enforcement and compliance

Violations of the ESA can lead to enforcement action.

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

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

The ESA consists of just a few of the guidelines impacting work in Ontario. Other provincial and federal legislation governs problems such as workplace health and wellness, human rights and labour relations.

Related Ontario laws consist of the:

Occupational Health and Safety Act.
Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997.
Labour Relations Act, 1995.
Pay Equity Act.
Human Rights Code.
To find out 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 affecting workplaces consist of statutes on income tax, employment insurance coverage and the Canada Pension.

To learn more about federal laws, call the Government of Canada information 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 individuals and individuals or organizations 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 offices, radio and tv stations and inter-provincial trains.
- people working under a program authorized by a college of applied arts and technology or university.
- people working under a program that is approved by a profession college registered under the Ontario Career Colleges Act, 2005.
- secondary school students who work under a work experience program licensed by the school board that operates the school in which the student is registered.
- people who do community participation under the Ontario Works Act, 1997.
- policeman (other than for the lie detectors arrangements of the ESA, which do use).
- prisoners participating in work or rehabilitation programs, or individuals who work as part of a sentence or job order of a court.
- people who hold political, judicial, spiritual or job elected trade union offices.
- major junior ice hockey players who fulfill certain conditions associated with scholarships.
- people who meet the definition of organization consultant or infotech specialist under the ESA if specific conditions are fulfilled.
For a complete listing of other individuals not governed by the ESA, please inspect the ESA and its policies.

Employee misclassification

Employers are forbidden from misclassifying workers as independent specialists, 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 assist 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 address your questions about the ESA. Information is available in numerous languages. You can reach the information centre from Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m.