Assignment

#9

Workplace Laws

Employment Standards Act

Instructions:

  1. Follow the instructions on the page that follows
  2. Go the website:

‘What Young Workers Should Know’ for additional information

Use the information from the pages that follow entitled What Young Workers Should Know -Employment Standards Fact Sheet to fill in the blanks for the following statements:

  1. The ______known as the ESA, is a law that sets out the rights and responsibilities of both employees and employers in Ontario workplaces.

2. Does the ESA cover young workers? ______it does. Young workers have the ______as other employees in Ontario workplaces under the ESA.

  1. Employees cannot be forced to work more than ______hours a day or ______hours a week unless they agree in ______.
  1. Most employees must be paid ______pay after 44 hours of work. The rate must be at least ______times the regular rate of pay.
  1. What is the current student minimum wage? ______
  1. Employees are entitled to ______of their total wages earned as vacation pay.
  1. A ______is a day off work with public holiday pay. Ontario has ______public holidays every year.
  1. Eligible employees are entitled to take ______weeks of Pregnancy Leave and ______weeks of Parental Leave.
  1. ______leave is for personal illness, injury or medical emergency.
  1. Employers can take ______leave to care for and support family members who have a serious illness.
  1. An employer must give an employee advance ______or ______pay if the employee has been working continuously for 3 months or more and his/her job is terminated.

Your Name: ______Completion Date: ______

The Employment Standards Act

The Employment Standards Act, 2000 ( ESA ) is a document that is law in that sets the Minimum standards for fair workplace practices in Ontario.

Maximum Daily Hours of Work

You do not have to work more than:

  • 8 hours a day
    or
  • the number of hours in your regular work day, if it is more than 8.

If you choose to, you can agree with your employer in writing to work more hours. If you do not want to work more hours, you do not have to sign an agreement.

Maximum Weekly Hours of Work

You do not have to work more than 48 hours a week.

If you choose to, you can agree with your employer in writing to work more hours.

If you sign an agreement, your employer must also get approval from the Ministry of Labour's Director of Employment Standards. If you do not want to work more hours, you do not have to sign an agreement.

If you agree in writing to work more than:

  • 48 hours a week, up to 60 hours a week--Your employer can ask you to start working the excess hours 30 days after applying for the Director's approval, as long as certain conditions are met.
  • 60 hours a week--Your employer must have the Director's approval before you can start working more than 60 hours a week.

Overtime Pay

For every hour you work over 44 hours a week, your employer must pay you at least 1½ times your regular rate of pay ("time and a half"). Even if you agree in writing to work more than 48 hours a week, your employer must pay you overtime pay for every hour you work over 44 hours a week.

Minimum Wage Rates

Minimum wage is the lowest wage rate an employer can pay an employee. Most employees are eligible for minimum wage, whether they are full-time, part-time, casual employees, or are paid an hourly rate, commission, piece rate, flat rate or salary. Some employees have jobs that are exempt from the minimum wage provisions.

Minimum Wage Rate / March 31, 2010
General Minimum Wage / $10.25 per hour
Student Minimum Wage / $9.60 per hour

General minimum wage-This rate applies to most employees.

Student wage-This rate applies to students under the age of 18 who work 28 hours a week or less when school is in session or work during a school break or summer holidays.

Vacation Pay

Employees must receive a minimum of four per cent of the gross "wages" (excluding vacation pay) they earned in the 12 months vacation entitlement year or stub period for which the vacation is being given.

If an employee's contract or collective agreement provides a better vacation benefit than the minimum required, the employee may be entitled to a higher percentage of his or her gross earnings for vacation pay.

The gross "wages" on which vacation pay is calculated include:

  • regular earnings, including commissions;
  • bonuses and gifts that are non-discretionary or are related to hours of work;
  • overtime pay;
  • public holiday pay;
  • termination pay; and
  • allowances for room and board.

But do not include:

  • vacation pay paid out or earned but not yet paid;
  • tips and gratuities;
  • discretionary bonuses and gifts that are not related to hours of work, production or efficiency (e.g. a Christmas bonus unrelated to performance);
  • expenses and traveling allowances;
  • living allowances;
  • contributions made by an employer to a benefit plan and payments from a benefit plan (e.g. sick pay) that an employee is entitled to;
  • federal employment insurance benefits;
  • severance pay.

Public Holidays

Ontario has nine public holidays:

  • New Year's Day
  • Family Day
  • Good Friday
  • Victoria Day
  • Canada Day
  • Labour Day
  • Thanksgiving Day
  • Christmas Day
  • Boxing Day (December 26).

Most employees who qualify are entitled to take these days off work and be paid public holiday pay. Alternatively, they can agree in writing to work on the holiday and they will be paid:

  • public holiday pay plus premium pay for the hours worked on the public holiday;
    or
  • their regular rate for hours worked on the holiday, plus they will receive another day off (called a "substitute" holiday) with public holiday pay. If the employee has earned a substitute day off with public holiday pay, the public holiday pay calculation is done with respect to the four work weeks before the work week in which the substitute day off falls.

Pregnancy Leave

Pregnant employees have the right to take pregnancy leave of up to 17 weeks, or longer in certain circumstances, of unpaid time off work.

Qualifying for Pregnancy Leave

A pregnant employee is entitled to pregnancy leave whether she is a full-time, part-time, permanent or contract employee provided that she:

  • works for an employer that is covered by the ESA,
    and
  • was hired at least 13 weeks before the date her baby is expected to be born (the "due date").

Parental Leave

Both new parents have the right to take parental leave of up to 35 or 37 weeks of unpaid time off work.

Qualifying for Parental Leave

A new parent is entitled to parental leave whether he or she is a full-time, part-time, permanent or contract employee provided that the employee:

  • works for an employer that is covered by the ESA,
    and
  • was employed for at least 13 weeks before commencing the parental leave.

An employee does not have to actively work in the 13- week period preceding the start of the parental leave. The employee could be on layoff, vacation, sick leave or pregnancy leave for all or part of the 13-week qualifying period and still be entitled to parental leave. The ESA only requires the employee to have been employed by the employer for 13 weeks before he or she may commence a parental leave.

A "parent" includes:

  • a birth parent;
  • an adoptive parent (whether or not the adoption has been legally finalized); or
  • a person who is in a relationship of some permanence with a parent of the child and who plans on treating the child as his or her own. This includes same-sex couples.

Reasons for Which an Unpaid Personal Emergency Leave May Be Taken

An employee who is entitled to personal emergency leave can take up to 10 days of unpaid leave due to:

  • Personal illness, injury or medical emergency,
    or
  • Death, illness, injury, medical emergency or urgent matter relating to the following family members:
  • A spouse*;
  • A parent, step-parent, foster parent, child, step-child, foster child, grandparent, step-grandparent, grandchild or step- grandchild of the employee or the employee's spouse;
  • The spouse of an employee's child;
  • A brother or sister of the employee;
  • A relative of the employee who is dependent on the employee for care or assistance.

Family Medical Leave

Family medical leave is unpaid, job-protected leave of up to eight weeks in a 26-week period.

Family medical leave may be taken to provide care or support to certain family members and people who consider the employee to be like a family member in respect of whom a qualified health practitioner has issued a certificate indicating that he or she has a serious medical condition with a significant risk of death occurring within a period of 26 weeks. The medical condition and risk of death must be confirmed in a certificate issued by a qualified health practitioner.

Termination of Employment

Termination of Employment Defined

A number of expressions are commonly used to describe situations when employment is terminated. These include "let go," "discharged," "dismissed," "fired" and "permanently laid off."

Under the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) a person's employment is terminated if the employer:

  • dismisses or stops employing an employee, including an employee who is no longer employed due to the bankruptcy or insolvency of the employer;
  • "constructively" dismisses an employee and the employee resigns, in response, within a reasonable time;
  • lays an employee off for a period that is longer than a "temporary layoff".

In most cases, when an employer ends the employment of an employee who has been continuously employed for three months, the employer must provide the employee with either written notice of termination, termination pay or a combination (as long as the notice and the termination pay together equal the length of notice the employee is entitled to receive).

An employer is not required to give an employee a reason why his or her employment is being terminated. There are, however, some situations where an employer cannot terminate an employee's employment even if the employer is prepared to give proper written notice or termination pay. For example, an employer cannot end someone's employment, or penalize them in any way, if any part of the reason for the termination of employment is based on the employee asking questions about the ESA or exercising a right under the ESA, such as refusing to work in excess of the daily or weekly hours of work maximums, or taking a leave of absence specified in the ESA.