The Ministry of Labour investigates ESA violations through employee complaints and workplace audits. Common violations include improper overtime calculations, vacation pay errors, minimum wage breaches, misclassified employees, and inadequate termination notice. Each violation results in orders to pay employees, administrative penalties, and legal fees.
The Employment Standards Act sets strict rules for Ontario employers. Violations lead to complaints, audits, penalties, and lawsuits. We help you understand your obligations, fix compliance gaps, and avoid costly enforcement action.
We review your employment practices, payroll records, and policies to identify ESA violations before the Ministry does. Our audits cover hours of work, overtime pay, vacation entitlements, leaves of absence, and termination notice requirements. You get a detailed report with actionable steps to fix compliance issues immediately.
As of January 1, 2026, employers with 25+ employees must include compensation ranges in job postings, disclose AI use in hiring, and cannot require Canadian experience. We ensure your job postings meet these new ESA requirements and update your recruitment processes.
We review how you track hours, calculate overtime, handle averaging agreements, and classify exempt employees. Many employers make costly mistakes by misunderstanding overtime rules after 44 hours per week or failing to track hours properly.
We audit how you calculate vacation entitlements, track vacation time, handle statutory leaves (pregnancy, parental, medical), and comply with public holiday pay rules. Vacation pay errors are among the most common ESA violations and create significant back-pay liability.
Misclassifying employees as independent contractors or exempt from overtime creates serious ESA exposure. We assess your workforce classifications, identify misclassification risks, and help you restructure relationships to comply with ESA standards.
Overtime calculation errors, vacation pay underpayment, misclassifying contractors, failing to provide required leaves, and inadequate termination notice.
The Ministry orders you to pay employees what they're owed plus interest. Administrative penalties reach thousands per violation. Repeat violations face higher penalties.
No. Any agreement waiving ESA rights is void. You cannot contract out of ESA minimums.
Yes, if work is performed in Ontario. Remote work doesn't change ESA obligations.
If you have 25+ employees and advertise jobs publicly, you must disclose compensation ran
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