What is a young worker?
The Employment Standards Act (ESA) describes any employee under 25 as a "young worker."
Young workers have the same rights as other workers. There are a few exceptions, especially if you're a student.
In Ontario, the student minimum wage rate applies to students under the age of 18 who:
- Work no more than 28 hours a week during the school year.
- Work during a school break or summer holidays.
What pay are workers entitled to?
Most employees are eligible for minimum wage. It doesn’t matter if you are full-time, part-time, casual, or are paid an hourly rate, commission, piece rate, flat rate or salary.
Employers can only pay wages by the following methods:
- Cash
- Cheque
- Direct deposit
- Interac e-Transfer
Direct deposit and Interac e-transfer must be directly into an account of your choice. No other forms of payment are allowed.
What is overtime pay?
Overtime pay is a higher payment rate for workers if they work more than 44 hours per week.
What are tips and gratuities?
Tips and gratuities are additional payments made voluntarily by customers, in addition to the cost of the product or service, usually to show gratitude.
There are some rules set around tips by the ESA:
- Tips are not considered wages, and employees must still be paid the minimum wage, even when collecting tips.
- If the employer collects all tips, they must distribute the tips within a "reasonable” time frame, which depends on each circumstance.
- Like your wages, tips must also be paid only in cash, cheque, or direct deposit.
You should know that your employer:
- Is allowed to pool all the tips that staff earn and then redistribute them fairly.
- Cannot withhold or deduct your tips to cover the cost of spillage, losses, damages, etc.
- Is not allowed to share in the tip pool unless they are the sole owner or a partner of the business and regularly take on the same duties as their staff.
Vacation Time and Vacation Pay
Vacation time and pay are parts of your employment contract that explain how much time you can take off work or how much money you earn instead of getting “vacation days.”
You may have an employment contract or a collective agreement that provides you with more than the minimum amounts required by the ESA.
Public Holidays and Lunch Breaks
Your employer must give you a 30-minute break after working five consecutive hours.
Public holidays are in addition to your vacation time. You have the right to refuse work on a public holiday. If you choose to work on a public holiday, you may get premium pay.
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 qualified employees are entitled to take these days off work and be paid public holiday pay.
Use this calculator to determine how much you should get paid for working on a public holiday.
What is the three-hour shift rule?
In Ontario, the three-hour shift rule says employers must pay workers for at least three hours if they come in for a shift, even if they end up working less. There are a few exceptions, for example, if your workplace needs to close because of a storm, power outage, or another reason beyond the employer's control.
What can an employer remove from my pay?
An employer can deduct or remove money from your pay for 3 reasons:
- Statutory deductions: Taxes, Employment Insurance and Canada Pension Plan contributions.
- Court orders: If you owe money either to the employer or to someone else, like child support or taxes owed.
- Written authorization: This can include your agreement to cover uniforms and other equipment needed for your job.
An employer can’t deduct your pay for mistakes like taking a food order wrong or damaging company tools through normal use.
What do I do if my employer does not pay me?
You should file a claim with the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development if you need to recover wages that an employer owes you.
Get in touch with the Employment Standards Information Centre to get help:
- 1-800-531-5551
- TTY: 1-866-567-8893
Remember that you must file a claim within two years of the incident.