Complying With Employment Standards:
What Businesses Need to Know

• ISBN:
• 978-1-4249-9930-9 (Print)
• 978-1-4249-9931-6 (HTML)
• 978-1-4249-9932-3 (PDF Print)
• 978-1-4249-9933-0 (PDF View)
• Issued: June 2009
• Content Last Reviewed: June 2009

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Making Sense of Compliance

If you run a business or manage people, you need to know about the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA). This law sets minimum standards for conditions of employment in most workplaces in Ontario. Knowing about employment laws is an essential business tool.

Why is there an Employment Standards Act?

The ESA establishes basic employer obligations and employee rights with respect to rates of pay, hours of work and overtime, vacations, public holidays, various forms of leave and more. Every province and most industrialized countries have similar legislation.

The ESA is enforced by officers who work for the Employment Standards (ES) Program, which is part of the Ministry of Labour. They visit businesses throughout Ontario.

Keys to Compliance

You should be aware of some key employment standards and exemptions and special rules that could apply to your business.

Post the poster “What you Need to Know”

Most Ontario workplaces are required to put up the poster “What you Need to Know” produced by the Ministry of Labour. This poster can be downloaded from the Ministry of Labour website. It’s free! The poster lets you and your employees know what the key minimum standards are and directs you to more information on the Ministry of Labour website and in the Employment Standards Act (Act) itself.

More information about the poster …

Hours of Work

The ESA limits hours that employees can work in a day and in a week. It provides ways in which you and your employees can agree to work more hours to meet your business needs. (In the case of hours in excess of the weekly limit, approval by the Ministry of Labour is required.) It also sets out mandatory rest periods and rules around overtime. You can also apply for excess hours of work (beyond the weekly maximum).

More information about hours of work and overtime …

Minimum Wage

This is the lowest hourly rate an employer can pay an employee.

Effective March 31, 2009

• General Minimum Wage: $9.50 per hour
• Student Minimum Wage: $8.90 per hour

Effective March 31, 2010

• General Minimum Wage: $10.25 per hour
• Student Minimum Wage: $9.60 per hour

More information about minimum wage …

Vacation Time and Pay

Most employees earn at least 2 weeks of vacation time after every 12 months of employment. Employees are entitled to be paid at least 4% of their total wages earned in that 12-month period as vacation pay.

More information about vacation time and pay …

Public Holidays

Ontario has nine public holidays every year. A list of this year's public holidays and dates can be found on the Employment Standards web page. Most employees are allowed to take these public holidays off work with public holiday pay. The Ministry of Labour provides employers with access to an on-line calculator to help you calculate the public holiday pay for your employees. Try it out!

More information about public holidays …

Leaves of Absence

There are four main types of leaves of absence that some employees are eligible for:

• pregnancy leave
• parental leave
• emergency leave
• family medical leave

These leaves are job-protected. That means employees cannot be terminated for asking for or taking these leaves of absence.

More information about pregnancy and parental leave, emergency leave and familiy medical leave …

Termination Notice and Pay

An employer must give an employee who has been employed for 3 months or more advance written notice, termination pay instead of notice, or a combination of both, if his or her job is terminated. The amount of notice or pay depends on how long the employee has been working for the employer and the number of employees being terminated in a 4-week period.

More information about termination notice and pay …

Paths to Compliance

Businesses may have contact with the ES Program in many ways:

Voluntary Compliance

The first step to compliance is knowing what the law requires and what you need to do when employing people and when you are faced with a dispute with your employee. It is easy to access information about the ESA. The Ministry of Labour’s website is one of the best places to begin. We are updating and improving access to information here to better serve your business needs.

Check out our guide. It’s easy to use and has examples and sample calculations to help you manage your greatest asset—your employees.

There is a helpline for you to call, which is answered by knowledgeable staff. They can provide you with the information you need—free of charge. Simply call the Employment Standards Information Service at 416-326-7160, 1-800-531-5551 (toll free), or 1-866-567-8893 for Hearing Impaired TTY.

Compliance Tools for the Taking

The ES Program is developing a number of tools, available on the website, to help you comply with the ESA. These include interactive calculators to assist you in complying with obligations, such as public holiday pay. The Guide explains the ESA in more detail and our Employment Standards Information Centre can answer your questions about how to comply with the ESA. All of these services are free and more are being developed.

Proactive Inspections

Employment Standards (ES) officers visit businesses across Ontario ‘proactively’, even if no complaint has been filed by an employee. These officers will help you correct areas where your business is not complying with the Act. In most cases, a review of the following 10 standards takes place, which apply to most, but not all, workplaces in Ontario.

ESA poster Wage statements Deductions from wages Record keeping Hours of work

Eating periods Overtime pay Minimum wage Public holidays Vacation with pay

Officers usually provide advance notice of an intended visit. They will review your records and speak to you and your employees. If there are issues of non-compliance they will discuss these with you and, depending on the nature of the violation, they may provide an opportunity to correct them. ES Officers may also issue orders to pay, tickets or lay charges; courts may impose fines.

Complaints and Investigations

Employees who feel their rights have been violated under the ESA may file a claim electronically, by fax or by mail. Last year more than 20,000 workers did just that.

When a contravention of the Act is alleged by an employee, the ES Program of the Ministry of Labour will investigate the complaint. If a contravention is found, in addition to any payment which may be due to the employee, the employer may be subject to orders and possible prosecution.

The employer is provided with opportunities to participate in the investigation. The employer will be contacted by an Officer and may ask questions about the complaint or their obligations under the law. The employer may discuss these with the Officer; in some cases he or she may want to get independent legal advice.

In an investigation, as an employer, you may be required to provide evidence, facts and other information. You may also be required to attend a meeting with the Officer to resolve the complaint. Claim investigations take time and result in costs for everyone involved. These costs can be avoided by complying with the Act.

Why Comply?

In 2008 almost 500 prosecutions were brought against employers for violating the ESA. Tickets for hundreds of dollars were issued to hundreds of businesses last year. More serious violations have involved tens and, in some cases, hundreds of thousands of dollars in court orders. Directors of corporations can be held personally liable for their company’s violations and even jailed. In the long run, these penalties cost businesses much more money than compliance. Names of convicted businesses can be found on the Ministry's Enforcement Activities web page. Don’t end up on this list.

Employees cannot be punished for claiming their rights. This is known as a ‘reprisal’.
Businesses that commit a reprisal have been ordered to compensate employees, often for many thousands of dollars.

Good Business Inside and Out

Complying with the ESA is the first step in helping your business to establish the right employment conditions for a satisfied and productive work force.

Learn more about the ESA and how compliance will help you build your business. It just makes good business sense.

Compliance is not just about avoiding costly and time consuming investigations. You’ve probably heard about or read the studies that show that employees who are more satisfied at work are more productive, have fewer sick days, provide better customer service and tend to stay longer with a company reducing costly turnover and absenteeism.