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

This guide needs to not be utilized as or thought about legal suggestions. You might have greater rights under a work agreement, collective contract, the common law or other legislation. If you're unsure about anything in this guide, please talk with a legal representative.

Topics covered by the ESA?

These include:

advantage strategies
bereavement leave
child death leave
crime-related child disappearance leave
important illness leave
declared emergency situation leave
domestic or sexual violence leave
the employment requirements poster: circulation requirements
equivalent spend for equal work
family caretaker leave
family medical leave
household responsibility leave
suing
hours of work, consuming durations and pause
infectious illness emergency situation leave
licensing - temporary aid firms and recruiters
lie detector tests
minimum wage
non-compete agreements
organ donor leave
overtime pay
payment of salaries
pregnancy and adult leave
public holidays
reservist leave
severance of employment
sick leave
momentary assistance agencies
termination of employment and short-lived layoffs
pointers or gratuities
holiday.
written policy on disconnecting from work.
composed policy on electronic tracking of workers.
Reprisals are restricted

Employers are forbidden from penalizing workers in any method because the employee exercised ESA rights.

Clients of short-lived help firms are restricted from punishing project workers in any method due to the fact that the project worker exercised ESA rights.

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

Employers, of short-lived aid firms and employers who devote a reprisal can be:

- ordered to compensate the staff member, project employee or prospective staff member.
- purchased to renew the worker or task employee (if the reprisal was dedicated by an employer or client of a short-lived help firm).
- ordered to pay a penalty.
- prosecuted.
Discover more about reprisals.

Greater right or advantage

If an arrangement in a work agreement or another Act gives a staff member a greater right or benefit than a minimum employment requirement under the ESA then that arrangement uses to the employee rather of the employment requirement.

No waiving of rights

No employee can concur to waive or provide up their rights under the ESA (for instance, the right to receive overtime pay or public holiday pay). Any such contract 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 on which provision of the ESA was contravened. Examples include:

- an order to pay.
- a compliance order.
- a ticket.
- a notification 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 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, job 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 impacting offices include statutes on earnings tax, employment insurance coverage and the Canada Pension.

For more information 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, the ESA does not use to some individuals and the people or organizations 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 workplaces, radio and tv stations and inter-provincial railways.
- individuals 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 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 operates the school in which the trainee is registered.
- people who do neighborhood participation under the Ontario Works Act, 1997.
- policeman (other than for the lie detectors provisions 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 chosen trade union workplaces.
- major junior ice hockey players who satisfy particular conditions associated with scholarships.
- people who meet the meaning of company consultant or infotech specialist under the ESA if particular conditions are met.
For a complete listing of other people not governed by the ESA, please inspect the ESA and its regulations.

Employee misclassification

Employers are prohibited 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 main recommendation 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 offered to answer your concerns about the ESA. Information is offered in numerous languages. You can reach the information centre from Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m.