When looking to hire abroad in a specific country it’s important to know what laws apply to the job or industry in which you wish to employ. That’s because different regulations and acts can affect each sector differently.
In Ontario most employees are covered by the Employment Standard Act which provides minimum rights, responsibilities and standards for employees and employers in most workplaces.
These standards include:
- hours worked & overtime
- minimum wage
- employment termination
- holidays
- leave
- severance pay
- vacation
- tips & gratuity
However, certain industries and jobs are not completely covered by the Employment Standard act. These employees who are not covered by all parts are known as “exemptions”. Employees can also be covered by special rules that change how the act applies to them.
Before hiring an employee it’s important to know if their job places them under the full Employment standard act, exemptions, or special rule changes. By not properly determining your employee’s status and classifying them correctly, can lead to regulation issues and payroll complications.
For instance, a main payroll issue that can arise is overtime pay.
The ministry of labor in Ontario requires that employees receive overtime unless their job description fits the criteria as exempt from overtime provisions. So if you believed your employee was exempt, but is in fact not, you would then be obligated to pay them 1.5 times the regular rate or 1.5 hours of vacation for each hour of work exceeding the weekly 44 hours in addition to their usual pay. They will also be required to fill in time-sheets for attendance by the hour and paid bi-weekly.
Other employment standards differ depending on job or industry, so in order to avoid complications, click here to see the full list of jobs that have exemptions and special rules applied to them. As well as industries and jobs that are not covered by the Employment Standards Act. See our guide to Canada-Ontario’s payroll and benefits for further information
