Remainder

Question 1

What does Ontario’s ESA do?

Answer 1

Sets out minimum terms and conditions of work. It includes:
Hours and minimum wage
Overtime
Holidays/vacation
Parental leave
Termination/severance pay

Question 2

What is the rationale for the ESA disrupting the common law principle that parties are free to negotiate their own terms and conditions of employment?

Answer 2

Many employees lack the bargaining power to negotiate acceptable working conditions with the employer.

Question 3

What are some recent legislative changes to the ESA?

Answer 3

Bill 148 (Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act) 2017
Bill 47 (Making Ontario Open for Business Act) 2018
Bill 66 (Restoring Ontario’s Competitiveness Act) 2019
Bill 27 (Worker for Workers Act) 2021

Question 4

How is the ESA enforced, primarily?

Answer 4

Via complaints with the Ministry of Labour. Via a grievance if in a union.

Question 5

Who might be exempt from certain provisions of the ESA?

Answer 5

Managers, professional employees like accountants and lawyers, farm workers directly employed in primary production.

Question 6

When can an employer deduct from wages and vacation pay?

Answer 6

• When they are obliged to do so by statute
• When they are obliged to do so by court order (e.g., child support)
• When they are authorized to do so by the employee, in writing
• There was a genuine wage advance or unintentional overpayment

Question 7

Who has special wage rates?

Answer 7

• Liquor service
• Full-time students (<18 and working <28 hrs/wk)
• Hunting and Fishing Guides
• Homeworkers
• Where room and board is included
• Where commission is paid
• Unpaid internships permitted only in specific circumstances
• Commissioned sales people working outside of the workplace

Question 8

What does the ESA say in section 42(1) regarding equal pay for equal work?

Answer 8

No employer shall pay someone of one sex less than the other when:
a) they perform substantially the same kind of work in the same establishment
b) their performance requries substantially the same skill, effort, and responsibility
c) their work is performed under similar working conditions

Question 9

What are the provisions for Hours Free from Work?

Answer 9

• 11 consecutive hours off each day (not applying to on-call employees)
• 8 hours off work between shifts, unless the total time worked on both shifts is not more than 13 hours or unless the employer and employee have agreed otherwise in writing
• 24 consecutive hours off work every workweek or at least 48 consecutive hours off work every two consecutive workweeks (cannot be altered).

Question 10

What helps determine the length of reasonable notice that a resigning employee gives the employer?

Answer 10

• Employee’s duties
• Expected length of time it will take the employer to recruit and train a replacement
• The timing of the resignation in relation to the employer’s peak periods
• The custom in the workplace and industry

Question 11

What is the essential legal question behind dismissal for just cause?

Answer 11

Whether an employee breached the employment contract in such a fundamental way that the employer is no longer bound by the common law obligation to provide reasonable notice of termination or pay in lieu of reasonable notice.

Question 12

What are some ways to establish just cause under the common law?

Answer 12

o Dishonesty
o Insolence and Insubordination
o Incompatibility
o Off-Duty Conduct
o Conflict of Interest
o Disobedience
o Absenteeism and Lateness
o Sexual Harrassment
o Pyschological Harassment (Bullying)
o Intoxication
o Substance Abuse
o Incompetence
o Probationary Employees