Your Guide to The Employment Standards Act

This guide is a convenient source of info about key sections of the ESA. It is for your info and assistance only. It is not a legal document. If you require information or specific language, please describe the ESA itself and its guidelines.

This guide must not be used as or considered legal advice. You might have higher rights under an employment contract, cumulative agreement, the common law or other legislation. If you're unsure about anything in this guide, please speak with a legal representative.

Topics covered by the ESA?

These include:

advantage strategies

bereavement leave

child death leave

crime-related child disappearance leave

vital health problem leave

declared emergency leave

domestic or sexual violence leave

the employment standards poster: circulation requirements

equal spend for equal work

household caregiver leave

family medical leave

household responsibility leave

submitting a claim

hours of work, consuming periods and pause

contagious disease emergency leave

licensing - short-lived assistance agencies and employers

lie detector tests

minimum wage

non-compete contracts

organ donor leave

overtime pay

payment of salaries

pregnancy and parental leave

public vacations

reservist leave

severance of work

authorized leave

short-term aid agencies

termination of employment and momentary layoffs

pointers or gratuities

trip.

composed policy on disconnecting from work.

written policy on electronic tracking of employees.


Reprisals are forbidden

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

Clients of short-lived aid agencies are forbidden from penalizing project workers in any method because the task staff member exercised ESA rights.

Recruiters are restricted from penalizing potential employees who engage or utilize the employer's services in any way for specific factors, consisting of asking the employer to abide by the Act or making queries about whether an individual holds a licence as needed by the ESA.

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

- purchased to compensate the employee, project staff member or prospective worker.

- ordered to restore the staff member or project staff member (if the reprisal was committed by a company or client of a temporary assistance agency).

- bought to pay a charge.

- prosecuted.


Discover more about reprisals.

Greater right or benefit

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

No waiving of rights

No staff member can consent to waive or quit their rights under the ESA (for example, the right to get 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 arrangement of the ESA was contravened. Examples include:

- an order to pay.

- a compliance order.

- a ticket.

- a notification of conflict with a financial penalty.

- an order to renew and/or compensate.

- prosecution.


Other workplace-related laws

The ESA contains only some of the rules affecting operate in Ontario. Other provincial and federal legislation governs concerns such as workplace health and security, 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.


For more information 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 include statutes on income tax, work insurance and the Canada Pension.

For additional 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 employers in Ontario are covered by the ESA. However, the ESA does not apply to some people and the people or organizations they work for, such as:

- staff members and employers in sectors that fall under federal work 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 approved by a college of used arts and innovation or university.

- people working under a program that is authorized by a career college signed up under the Ontario Career Colleges Act, 2005.

- secondary school trainees 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 involvement under the Ontario Works Act, 1997.

- authorities officers (except for the lie detectors provisions of the ESA, which do use).

- inmates taking part in work or rehab 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.

- major junior ice hockey players who meet particular conditions associated with scholarships.

- individuals who meet the definition of company specialist or infotech expert under the ESA if certain conditions are met.


For a total listing of other people not governed by the ESA, please check the ESA and its guidelines.

Employee misclassification

Employers are restricted from misclassifying employees as independent professionals, interns, referall.us volunteers or any other kind of employee not covered by the ESA.

Discover more about worker misclassification.

Additional resources

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

- The Act Policy and Interpretation Manual is the main referral source for the policies of the Director of Employment Standards respecting the interpretation, administration and enforcement of the ESA.

- Staff at the Employment Standards Information Centre are offered to address your concerns about the ESA. Information is offered in lots of languages. You can reach the details centre from Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m.