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Public Policy Analysis

Group 1:

Khushboo – 301133824

Nancy Kunnumpurth George – 301167363

Shriram Dakshan Ramakrishnan – 301163728

Sukhpreet Singh –

Tanya Jasrotia – 301123134

Centennial College

HRPD 706-002: Labour and Employment Law

Professor Starr Olsen

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Introduction:

EMPLOYMENT STANDARDS ACT: The Act regulates employment within the province

of Ontario, counting compensation, maximum work hours, overtime, get-away, and

clears out of nonattendance. It varies from the Ontario Work Relations Act, which

controls unionized labour in Ontario.

The reason for this assignment is to get the basic point of this law and to extend our

information on employee rights and employer obligations.

This assignment analyzes the mechanisms that support ESA benchmarks, purposes,

exemptions, remedies, the developing patterns, and the human resource management

suggestions.
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Table of Contents

Introduction:.............................................................................................................................................2
Employment Standard Act....................................................................................................................4
Conclusion:.............................................................................................................................................16
References:.............................................................................................................................................17
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Employment Standard Act

1. What is the stated purpose and objectives of the law? Review the preamble

to the law.

The Ontario Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) sets out the rights and

responsibilities of employees and employers in Ontario workplaces. It also includes

provisions that apply to individuals seeking jobs with temporary assistance agencies

and, in certain situations, to clients of such agencies, even though the client business is

not the employer of the person making a claim under the ESA. (Ministry of Labour,

Training and Skills Development,2019)

It also sets out the minimum terms and conditions of work, including working hours,

overtime pay, public holidays, vacation time and pay, and pregnancy and parental leave.

Employers are free to exceed these statutory minimum standards, but they cannot, at

least with the agreement of the employee, fail to comply with them (Kathryn J. Filsinger).

3. What was the historical content in which this law was first enacted? Why was it

introduced at this time?

ESA's history began in 1969, the year that the law came into force in the Province of

Ontario, the initial purpose of this law was to unite several work-related statutes. This
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legislation consolidated a series of standards that deal with different types of

employment norms. The predecessor legislations to this law were:

 The Ontario Factories Act in 1884, which was the first statute of Ontario to

regulate hours of work. This Act set maximum hours of work for boys, girls, and

women at 10 hours per day and 60 hours per week, which were applied to the

manufacturing industries.

 In 1920, The Minimum Wage act established a minimum weekly salary in a trade,

industry, or business. The Act was applied only to female employees initially;

however, it was extended to male employees in 1930’s.

 In 1944, the Hours of work and Vacations with Pay Act established the maximum

hours of work at 8 hours per day and 48 per week in certain industrial

undertakings, the same general standard that prevails today. Meal break

requirements were also introduced in this act during mid-1960’s.

The separate statutes described above were replaced by the Employment Standards

Act, 1968[ CITATION Ont16 \l 1033 ].

2. What is the coverage of the law or to whom does it apply? Are there any

exceptions or exclusions? How significant are they?

The Employment Standards Act extends to the majority of Ontario employees and

employers. Federally legislated companies and their employees such as federal

government employees, employees of federal Crown corporations, banks, radio and

television broadcasters, rail companies, and airlines, which are protected by the federal

Labor Code, which has similar provisions.

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The majority of Ontario employees and employers are covered by the Employment

Standard Act. However, the ESA does not apply to certain individuals and persons or

organisations for whom they work, including:

• Sectors that fall under federal jurisdiction, such as airlines, banks, the federal civil

service, post offices, radio and television stations, and inter-provincial railways;

• People who engage in the community under the Ontario Works Act, 1997;

• Police officers, except the Lie Detectors part of the Employment Standard Act

which does apply.

• Inmates involved in service programmes or individuals performing work as part of

a punishment or order of a court;

• People holding political, judicial, religious or trade union positions.

For a complete listing of other job categories not governed by the Employment Standard

Act SA. Regulations provide for exemptions to the law, special guidelines and details

about how to enforce certain parts of the ESA (Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills

Development,2019).

4. What are the main features of the law?

 The ESA sets minimum standards; These standards include minimum wages,

hours of work and overtime, vacation entitlement, public holidays, statutory

leaves of absence, and termination and severance pay (Filsinger, 2019).

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 The employment standards officer (ESO) will enforce a more significant benefit if

there is a complaint when an employer guarantees a more substantial benefit

than the ones provided under the ESA (Filsinger, 2019).

 The ESA covers most of the employees; However, few exceptions apply for some

occupations and industries, for example, independent contractors are not covered

under this law (Filsinger, 2019).

 The employees who might believe their rights have been infringed under the ESA

could file a complaint with the Ministry of Labour (Filsinger, 2019).

 Unionized employees are covered by the ESA. However, they must usually follow

the grievance procedure in their collective agreement to pursue their rights under

the ESA, rather than file a complaint with the Ministry of Labour (Filsinger, 2019).

 The ESA binds all provincially regulated employers in Ontario without considering

the size. (Severance pay provisions is an exemption to the above feature)

(Filsinger, 2019).

5. Evaluate the respective rights and obligations of employers and employees.

The Employment Standards Poster: The important rights and requirements of the

Employment Standard Act are described by the Employment Standard Poster.

Employers covered by ESA must provide a copy of poster to all their employees. It can

be downloaded from the website of the Ministry of Labour and it is available in different

languages (Ministry of Labour, Training and Skill Development,2019).

Hours of work: The number of hours that employees will work in a day and in a week

is limited. If employees want to work more hours, then there should be an agreement
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between employers and employees (Ministry of Labour, Training and Skill

Development,2019).

Minimum wage: Employees have the right to be paid at least the minimum wage and a

general minimum wage applies to all employees (Ministry of Labour, Training and Skill

Development,2019).

Vacation time and pay: After every 12 months, employees with less than five years of

employment receive at least two weeks of vacation time and must pay at least four

percent of the total salary they earned as vacation pay. And employees who are working

for five or more years receive at least three weeks of vacation time and must pay at

least six percent of the overall salary paid as vacation pay (Ministry of Labour, Training

and Skill Development,2019).

Public holidays: Every year, 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). With public holiday pay, employees can take these public

holidays off work (Ministry of Labour, Training and Skill Development,2019).

Leaves of absence: Employees are entitled, under the ESA, to many kinds of unpaid,

job-protected leaves of absence. Employees will not be dismissed because these leaves

of absence are sought or taken (Ministry of Labour, Training and Skill

Development,2019).

Record keeping: Employers are expected to maintain written records for a certain

period involving each employee. However, for a Ministry of Labour

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Employment Standards Officer, these documents must be readily accessible (Ministry of

Labour, Training and Skill Development,2019).

Termination notice and pay: If an employer terminates an employee, then employee

must receive written notice and termination pay from the employer (Ministry of Labour,

Training and Skill Development,2019).

6. Describe the adjudication, dispute resolution and enforcement mechanisms.

Are the resulting outcomes fair and equitable?

Adjudication: Adjudication can be defined as the legal process by which an arbiter or

judge evaluates facts and reasoning to come a decision deciding rights and

responsibilities between the concerned parties, including judicial precedent set out by

opposing parties or litigants.

In the employment standards act, the policy is to adjudicate the majority of complaints.

The branch will assign an office for the complaint hearing to adjudicate the allegation.

The branch shall decide whether, by written statement or oral hearing, the adjudication

may proceed. Notice of the decision to delay a hearing or to request submissions will be

obtained by the parties by a certain date (Canada employment human rights law, 2019)

Dispute resolution:

It is a process of resolving disputes or differences between two parties. Under the

employment standards act (provincial). There are currently three main forums resolving

the disputes and all of them are mentioned below.

1. Ministry of labour: - MOL investigates complaints regarding violations under the

employment standards act, 2000. Employees may also make statements on job
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conditions through the MOL that will fix concerns related to ESA rights, such as unpaid

salaries, holidays, or overtime (Stam & Babbalat,2019).

2. Human rights tribunal of Ontario (HRTO): - Under the Ontario Human Rights

Code, the HRTO is a free method of dispute resolution to tackle abuses. Although it is a

valuable platform for workers to discuss concerns of workplace discrimination, decision

makers, unlike a judge in court, are constrained in their power to award punitive and

aggravated damages (Stam & Babbalat,2019).

3. Court: - A court case can resolve breaches of any legislation relating to

employment law, contractual disputes, or grounds for punitive or excessive damages

arising because of an employment agreement. There are, however, filing costs

associated with a legal case that would always require a counsel to be adequately

represented and the defeated parties will be responsible for the costs of the winning

party (Stam & Babbalat,2019).

Enforcement

Enforcement and the need for widespread compliance is one of the critical requirements

of a system of employment standards. Through the Ministry of Labour Job Standards

Program, the ESA is managed and enforced. This program consists of Toronto's

Employment Practices Division and five regional operational areas. A Director of Work

Standards is appointed by the Minister of Labour to implement the Act. One strategy of

the Job Standards (ES) Program is to manage and implement education and outreach

centers of the Act, realizing that education and enforcement go together.

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According to the reports and surveys the outcomes are fair and equitable. As the

employment standards act can make provide a fair perspective on matters and helps in

them taking a better decision (Riches & Dancaster,2004).

7. What are the possible remedies in the event of a violation of the law?

The ESA and its rules are governed and implemented in Ontario by the Ontario Ministry

of Labour. Ministry workers, referred to as Employment Standards Officers, investigate

allegations to decide whether a breach has occurred or not and may compel an

employer to pay sums deemed due (Filsinger, 2019).

Filing a Claim

The worker can opt to file a claim if the employee and the employer are unable to settle

the matter. Whether the employee is represented by a trade union, or if the employee

has filed a lawsuit in a court of law, an employee who is protected by the ESA cannot file

a claim (Filsinger, 2019).

An employee must file a written claim with the Ministry of Labour with respect to the

recovery of wages within six (6) months of the date on which the wages were due in

order to seek to recover them (Filsinger, 2019).

Investigating Violations

It is assigned to an Employment Standards Officer for review after a claim has been

filed. The Employment Standards Officer decides after reviewing an allegation as to

whether the employer has or has not complied with the ESA. Where the officer

determines that the employer has complied with the ESA, in cases where the employee

has lodged a complaint with the Ministry of Labour, the employee shall be informed of
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the decision in writing and can request a review within a span of 30 days. If the officer

considers that the employer has not complied with the ESA, the employer can resolve

the matter by voluntarily complying with the decision of the officer (Filsinger, 2019).

Enforcement

The Officer may issue an enforcement order to pay salaries to an employee if an

employer is reluctant or uncapable to comply with the decision of an Employment

Standards Officer. When an order to pay salaries is issued, the employer must either

comply with the order or request an appeal within 30 days of the date on which the order

is served. Compliance orders will, on the other hand, specify a specific date by which

the employer is expected to comply (Filsinger, 2019).

Review (Appeal) of an Officer’s Decision

If both the parties are not satisfied with the judgment of an officer, they may be entitled

to apply for appeal. The Ontario Labour Relations Board, an independent, quasi-judicial

panel, carries out investigations. The application for review must be submitted within 30

days of the date on which the letter informing the employee that an order against the

employer has been issued and date of notice by the employee and employer,

respectively (Filsinger, 2019).

8. Analyze the Human Resource Management implications for this area of

employment law.

Human resources -- The most valuable asset in an organization. Human resource

management basically have functions of recruitment, selection, hiring, onboarding,

training, promoting, paying, and firing employees. In the employment standards act the
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human resource management has the most prominent function to run everything

smoothly. Developing and implementing human resources policies are essential HR

responsibilities. These responsibilities cannot be overlooked. A better implication of

human resource management will bring harmony and better coordination among

employees.

Via reducing conflicts between employers and workers or the Union, good

understanding of the Employment Act would result in positive employee involvement

and create peace in industrial relations. As such, the roles and relationships between

employers and workers are formed. A better relation between workers and employers

will help the organization in their daily work routine and functions and will bring them

more business (Mephew,2017).

9. Are there any special issues or emerging trends in the area of the law.

Top 6 Emerging Trends of Employment Standards Act are:

Special issues due to COVID in ESA: Declared emergency in Ontario is over. The

second provincial emergency declared as a result of COVID-19 has ended. As of 10

February, 2021 workers are no longer allowed to take declared emergency leave under

the Work Standards Act, 2000.

An Employees who have been on declared emergency leave may be entitled for

emergency sickness leave or other leave of absence under the Employment Standards

Act, 2000.

The rules on temporary Employment Standard Act shall continue, in response to the

COVID-19 pandemic, the Ontario government adopted a regulation that modified certain
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rules of the Employment Standards Act, 2000 during the COVID-19 era. The temporary

rules shall continue to apply until 3 July 2021.

Personal Leave Emergency: Personal Emergency Leave was canceled and replaced

with three days of unpaid Sick Leave for individual sickness, harm, or medical

emergency; three days of unpaid Family Duty Leave for illness, damage, therapeutic

crisis, or critical matter with respect to a secured family member; and two days of unpaid

Bereavement Leave for the passing of a endorsed family member (Kramer,2019).

Scheduling Changes: Most of the burdensome planning rules slated to take an impact

on January 1, 2019 beneath (Bill 148) were canceled, including an employee’s right to

deny an employer’s request to work or be on-call in case they were scheduled with less

than 96 hours’ take note. Cleared out intact by (Bill 47), in any case, is the 3-hour rule

(Kramer,2019).

Minimum Wage: Under Bill 148, a common minimum wage increment to $15 per hour

was scheduled to take an impact on January 1, 2019. This increase was canceled, and

the minimum wage will stay $14 per hour subject to a yearly expansion adjustment

beginning on October 1, 2020 (Kramer,2019).

Employee Misclassification: Although it remains illegal under ESA for bosses to

misclassify workers as an independent contractor, (Bill 47) shifts the burden back to

laborers to demonstrate they are misclassified. Under Bill 148, the onus was on the

employer to prove that a worker was not an employee (Kramer,2019).

Pay Equalization: The equal pay for equal work provisions instituted by Bill 148 has

been canceled. Workers are not entitled to equal pay for equal work based on business
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status (e.g., permanent, part-time, regular, and temporary). Comparable equal pay

arrangements for short-term help agency workers were also eliminated (Kramer,2019).

Monitor Legislative Changes: Not each ESA alteration presented under Bill 148 was

canceled or changed by Bill 47. For example, three weeks of paid vacation after five

years of work remains in impact, as do leave privileges for domestic or sexual

viciousness. But more changes may be coming, not only in Ontario but in other

provinces and nations as well. Bosses are strongly energized to monitor administrative

exercises wherever they have workers and, as always, anticipate and be prepared for

change (Kramer,2019).

10. Evaluate the effectiveness of this law in relation to its stated purpose and

objectives. What are the outcomes of the legislation?

Purpose of Employment Standards Act are:

 to make sure that workers in British Columbia get at slightest essential standards

of remuneration and conditions of employment (Two grey suits,2018).

 to advance the reasonable treatment of workers and managers (Two grey

suits,2018).

 to empower open communication between bosses and workers (Two grey

suits,2018).

 to supply reasonable and effective methods for settling debate over the

application and translation of this Act (Two grey suits,2018).

 to cultivate the improvement of a beneficial and productive work force that can

contribute completely (Two grey suits,2018).

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 to contribute in helping representatives to meet work and family responsibilities

(Two grey suits,2018).

Conclusion:

In conclusion analyzing the fundamentals of the Employment Standards Act, we found

its primary goal, which is to create a culture of compliance where information of

employment rights and obligations under the ESA is broad, where employers comply

with their employment duties and where workers are comfortable stating their rights at

work.

Employment Standards Act covers most Ontario workers with the exemption of federal
representatives and many others such as police officers, jail detainees and co-op
students. The Ministry of Labour upholds the ESA and its directions, provides data,
explores potential violations, and settle complaints.
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References:

Filsinger, K. J. (2019). Employment Law for Business and Human Resources

Professionals (Revised fourth ed.). Toronto, Ontario: Emond Montgomery Publications.

Government of Ontario. (2020). Your guide to the Employment Standards Act.

Ontario.ca. Retrieved from https://www.ontario.ca/document/your-guide-employment-

standards-act

Kramer P. (2019, January 7). The new year brings many changes to Ontario’s

employment standards act. Workforce Software. Retrieved from

https://www.workforcesoftware.com/blog/the-new-year-brings-many-changes-to-

ontarios-employment-standards-act/

Mayhew, R., (2017, September 26). The Important factors of human resource

management. Bizfluent. Retrieved from https://bizfluent.com/info-7752535-important-

factors-human-resource-management.html

Ministry of Labour, Training and Skill Development. (2019). What Businesses Need to

Know. Retrieved from https://www.ontario.ca/document/employment-standard-act-

policy-and-interpretation-manual/part-xxii-complaints-and-enforcement

Ministry of Labour, Training and Skill Development. (2019). What is the purpose of the

Employment Standards Act (ESA)?. Retrieved from

https://www.labour.gov.on.ca/english/es/faqs/general.php#purpose
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Ontario ministry of labour, t. a. (2016). Ontario ministry of labour, training and skills

development. Retrieved 02 18, 2021, from 5.1 Legislative History of the ESA:

https://www.labour.gov.on.ca/english/about/cwr_interim/chapter_5_1.php

Riches, J. L., Dancaster, C., (2004). The Act: the adjudication provisions section 108.

Wiley Online Library. Retrieved from

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9780470759080.ch3

Stam, L., Barbalat, O. (2019). Alternative dispute resolution in employment law - Part 1.

Employment & Human Rights Law in Canada. Retrieved from

https://www.canadaemploymenthumanrightslaw.com/2019/03/alternative-dispute-

resolution-in-employment-law-part-1

Two grey suits. (2018). Ontario Community Newspaper Association. Retrieved from

https://www.ocna.org/changes-to-the-ESA?mid=0
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