Recent and upcoming changesRead about related to employment standards, including:About your guide to the ESAThis guide is a convenient source of information about key sections of the ESA. It is for your information and assistance only. It is not a legal document. If you need details or exact language, please refer to the .This guide should not be used as or considered legal advice. You may have greater rights under an employment contract, collective agreement, the common law or other legislation. If you’re unsure about anything in this guide, please talk to a lawyer.Topics covered by the ESA?These include:Reprisals are prohibitedEmployers are prohibited from penalizing employees in any way because the employee exercised ESA rights.Clients of temporary help agencies are prohibited from penalizing assignment employees in any way because the assignment employee exercised ESA rights.Recruiters are prohibited from penalizing prospective employees who engage or use the recruiter’s services in any way for certain reasons, including asking the recruiter to comply with the Act or making inquiries about whether a person holds a licence as required by the ESA.Employers, clients of temporary help agencies and recruiters who commit a reprisal can be:ordered to compensate the employee, assignment employee or prospective employeeordered to reinstate the employee or assignment employee (if the reprisal was committed by an employer or client of a temporary help agency)ordered to pay a penaltyprosecuted.Greater right or benefitIf a provision in an employment contract or another Act gives an employee a greater right or benefit than a minimum employment standard under the ESA then that provision applies to the employee instead of the employment standard.No waiving of rightsNo employee can agree to waive or give up their rights under the ESA (for example, the right to receive overtime pay or public holiday pay). Any such agreement is null and void.Enforcement and complianceViolations of the ESA can result in 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 paya compliance ordera ticketa notice of contravention with a monetary penaltyan order to reinstate and/or compensateprosecutionOther workplace-related lawsThe ESA contains only some of the rules affecting work in Ontario. Other provincial and federal legislation governs issues such as workplace protections for foreign nationals and child performers, workplace health and safety, human rights and labour relations.Related Ontario laws include the:For more information about other Ontario laws, contact ServiceOntario:Tel: (in Toronto)Toll-free: (in the rest of Ontario)online at Federal laws affecting workplaces include statutes on income tax, employment insurance and the .For more information about federal laws, call the Government of Canada information line at .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:employees and employers in sectors that fall under federal employment law jurisdiction, such as airlines, banks, the federal civil service, post offices, radio and television stations and inter-provincial railwaysindividuals working under a program approved by a college of applied arts and technology or universityindividuals working under a program that is approved by a career college registered under the Ontario Career Colleges Act, 2005secondary school students who work under a work experience program authorized by the school board that operates the school in which the student is enrolledpeople who do community participation under the police officers (except for the lie detectors provisions of the ESA, which do apply)inmates taking part in work or rehabilitation programs, or individuals who work as part of a sentence or order of a courtpeople who hold political, judicial, religious or elected trade union officesmajor junior ice hockey players who meet certain conditions related to scholarshipsindividuals who meet the definition of business consultant or information technology consultant under the ESA if certain conditions are metFor a complete listing of other individuals not governed by the ESA, please check the .Employee misclassificationEmployers are prohibited from misclassifying employees as independent contractors, interns, volunteers or any other type of worker not covered by the ESA..Additional resourcesIn addition to this guide, the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development (MLITSD) has additional resources available to assist you:The is the primary reference source for the policies of the Director of Employment Standards respecting the interpretation, administration and enforcement of the ESA. The is available to help employers and employees understand some of their obligations and rights under the ESA.Staff at the Employment Standards Information Centre are available to answer your questions about the ESA. Information is available in many languages. You can reach the information centre from Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. by calling:Additional are available.Tell us what you think about the information on this page and how you’re using it. ., Know your rights and obligations under the Employment Standards Act (ESA). This guide describes the rules about minimum wage, hours of work limits, termination of employment, public holidays, pregnancy and parental leave, severance pay, vacation and more., In Ontario, employers can’t pressure or force non-unionized workers to resign. If your boss is influencing you to step down because you won’t work a different schedule, document their attempts. Keep any letters, emails, or text messages that show how management is pressuring you to quit..