This guide is a hassle-free source of info about essential areas of the ESA. It is for your information and employment help just. It is not a legal file. If you need information or specific language, please describe the ESA itself and its policies.

This guide should not be utilized as or thought about legal recommendations. You may have higher rights under an employment agreement, collective contract, the common law or other legislation. If you're unsure about anything in this guide, please speak with a lawyer.

Topics covered by the ESA?

These include:

advantage strategies
bereavement leave
child death leave
crime-related child disappearance leave
vital health problem leave
stated emergency situation leave
domestic or sexual violence leave
the employment standards poster: distribution requirements
equivalent spend for equal work
family caretaker leave
family medical leave
family obligation leave
suing
hours of work, consuming periods and pause
contagious illness emergency situation leave
licensing - momentary aid firms and employers
lie detector tests
minimum wage
non-compete agreements
organ donor employment leave
overtime pay
payment of earnings
pregnancy and parental leave
public vacations
reservist leave
severance of employment
sick leave
short-lived assistance agencies
termination of work and short-term layoffs
suggestions or gratuities
getaway.
written policy on detaching from work.
composed policy on electronic tracking of staff members.
Reprisals are prohibited

Employers are restricted from penalizing employees in any way because the worker exercised ESA rights.

Clients of short-term help firms are restricted from penalizing task staff members in any method since the task worker exercised ESA rights.

Recruiters are prohibited from penalizing prospective staff members who engage or utilize the recruiter's services in any way for certain reasons, including asking the employer to comply with the Act or investigating about whether a person holds a licence as required by the ESA.

Employers, clients of short-lived help agencies and recruiters who dedicate a reprisal can be:

- ordered to compensate the employee, task employee or prospective worker.
- bought to reinstate the worker or task employee (if the reprisal was committed by a company or client of a short-term aid company).
- ordered to pay a penalty.
- prosecuted.
Discover more about reprisals.

Greater right or advantage

If an arrangement in an employment agreement or another Act gives a worker a higher right or advantage than a minimum work requirement under the ESA then that arrangement applies to the worker rather of the work standard.

No waiving of rights

No worker can accept waive or quit their rights under the ESA (for instance, 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 kind of enforcement action that can be taken depends on which arrangement of the ESA was contravened. Examples include:

- an order to pay.
- a compliance order.
- a ticket.
- a notification of conflict with a monetary penalty.
- an order to restore and/or compensate.
- prosecution.
Other workplace-related laws

The ESA consists of just some of the guidelines affecting operate in Ontario. Other provincial and federal legislation governs concerns such as workplace health and wellness, human rights and labour relations.

Related Ontario laws consist of the:

Occupational Health And Wellness 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 affecting workplaces consist of statutes on income tax, work insurance and the Canada Pension Plan.

To find out more about federal laws, call the Government of Canada info line at 1-800-622-6232.

Who is not covered by the ESA?

Most staff members and companies in Ontario are covered by the ESA. However, the ESA does not use to some people and individuals or organizations they work for, such as:

- employees and companies in sectors that fall under federal work law jurisdiction, such as airlines, banks, the federal civil service, post offices, radio and tv stations and inter-provincial trains.
- individuals working under a program authorized by a college of applied arts and technology or university.
- individuals working under a program that is authorized 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 student is enrolled.
- individuals who do neighborhood involvement under the Ontario Works Act, 1997.
- cops officers (except for the lie detectors arrangements of the ESA, which do apply).
- inmates taking part in work or rehab programs, or people who work as part of a sentence or order of a court.
who hold political, judicial, spiritual or elected trade union offices.
- significant junior ice hockey gamers who fulfill certain conditions connected to scholarships.
- individuals who satisfy the definition of business consultant or info innovation consultant under the ESA if certain conditions are satisfied.
For a total listing of other people not governed by the ESA, please inspect the ESA and its regulations.

Employee misclassification

Employers are prohibited from misclassifying employees as independent professionals, interns, volunteers or any other type of employee 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 extra resources readily available to assist you:

- The Employment Standards Act Policy and Interpretation Manual is the primary recommendation 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 available to answer your concerns about the ESA. Information is offered in numerous languages. You can reach the details centre from Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m.