This guide is a convenient source of details about key areas of the ESA. It is for your information and support only. It is not a legal file. If you require information or exact language, please refer to the ESA itself and its policies.

This guide ought to not be used as or thought about legal guidance. You may have higher rights under a work contract, cumulative agreement, the typical 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 leave
the employment requirements poster: distribution requirements
equivalent spend for equal work
family caregiver leave
family medical leave
family obligation leave
suing
hours of work, consuming durations and pause
contagious disease emergency situation leave
licensing - short-term aid companies and recruiters
lie detector tests
minimum wage
non-compete contracts
organ donor leave
overtime pay
payment of wages
pregnancy and parental leave
public holidays
reservist leave
severance of employment
ill leave
momentary help agencies
termination of employment and momentary layoffs
pointers or gratuities
trip.
composed policy on detaching from work.
composed policy on electronic monitoring of staff members.
Reprisals are prohibited

Employers are forbidden from penalizing workers in any method due to the fact that the worker worked out ESA rights.

Clients of short-lived aid firms are restricted from punishing project employees in any method due to the fact that the assignment employee exercised ESA rights.

Recruiters are restricted from penalizing prospective workers who engage or utilize the recruiter’s services in any method for specific reasons, consisting of asking the employer to abide by the Act or investigating about whether an individual holds a licence as required by the ESA.

Employers, clients of momentary assistance firms and recruiters who dedicate a reprisal can be:

- purchased to compensate the staff member, project employee or potential worker.
- bought to renew the employee or assignment staff member (if the reprisal was committed by a company or customer of a momentary assistance agency).
- ordered to pay a penalty.
- prosecuted.
Find out more about reprisals.

Greater right or advantage

If a provision in an employment agreement or another Act offers a worker a higher right or benefit than a minimum work standard under the ESA then that arrangement applies to the employee rather of the employment standard.

No waiving of rights

No employee can concur to waive or quit their rights under the ESA (for instance, the right to get overtime pay or public vacation pay). Any such agreement is null and void.

Enforcement and compliance

Violations of the ESA can result in enforcement action.

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

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

The ESA includes only a few of the rules impacting work in Ontario. Other provincial and federal legislation governs concerns such as workplace health and safety, 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.
For more info 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 offices consist of statutes on earnings tax, employment insurance and the Canada Pension Plan.

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

Who is not covered by the ESA?

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

- workers 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.
- individuals working under a program that is approved by a profession 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 runs the school in which the trainee is registered.
- individuals who do neighborhood involvement under the Ontario Works Act, employment 1997.
- law enforcement officer (other than for the lie detectors arrangements of the ESA, which do apply).
- prisoners taking part in work or rehabilitation programs, or individuals who work as part of a sentence or order of a court.
- individuals who hold political, judicial, spiritual or elected trade union offices.
- significant junior ice hockey players who satisfy certain conditions associated with scholarships.
- people who meet the meaning of business consultant or infotech expert under the ESA if particular conditions are fulfilled.
For a complete listing of other individuals not governed by the ESA, please inspect the ESA and its guidelines.

Employee misclassification

Employers are restricted from misclassifying workers as independent specialists, interns, volunteers or any other type of worker not covered by the ESA.

Discover more about staff member misclassification.

Additional resources

In addition to this guide, the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development (MLITSD) has additional resources available to help you:

- The Employment Standards Act Policy and Interpretation Manual is the primary reference source for the policies of the Director of Employment Standards respecting the analysis, 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 readily available in many languages. You can reach the information centre from Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m.