HOURS OF WORK
Welcome to another employment standards segment on MOL Radio.
Ontario's Employment Standards Act sets several minimum employment standards for most Ontario workplaces. This includes excess hours of work.
Generally, in Ontario, the maximum number of hours most employees can be required to work in a day, is eight hours, or the number of hours regularly established as the work day, if it is more than 8 hours. This means that if your employer has established a work day that is more than eight hours, that then becomes your regular work day.
Regardless of the length of your regular working day, the maximum number of hours you may work in a week is 48 hours. However, if you choose to, you can agree with your employer … in writing … to work more than 48 hours in a week, and up to a specific number of hours per week.
Before your employer can allow you to work more than 48 hours in a work week, your employer must also get approval from the Ministry of Labour's Director of Employment Standards.
If you do not want to work excess daily or weekly hours, you do not have to sign an excess hours agreement.
If you have signed an agreement to work hours in excess of the daily or weekly limits, you can cancel your agreement by giving your employer two weeks' written notice. Your employer can also cancel a daily or weekly excess hours agreement by giving you reasonable notice.
Most employees who work more than 44 hours in a week, are entitled to overtime pay. Overtime pay equals 1½ times your regular rate of pay. This is often referred to as time and a half.
However, hours of work for purposes of calculating overtime can be averaged over 2 weeks or more. This can only be done if you agree with your employer, in writing, to average the hours you work over a specific number of whole weeks.
Before your employer can average your hours of work for purposes of calculating overtime, your employer must also get approval from the Ministry of Labour's Director of Employment Standards.
Employees who do not want to have their overtime hours averaged, do not have to sign an averaging agreement. An employer cannot in any way intimidate, fire, suspend, punish or threaten an employee, because the employee refuses to sign an excess hours or averaging agreement.
Most employees are entitled to rest and eating periods.
Generally, employers must give employees at least:
• 11 consecutive hours off work each day. A "day" is a 24-hour period - it does not have to be a calendar day; and
• 24 consecutive hours off work each work week, or 48 consecutive hours off every two work weeks.
Employees must also get a 30-minute eating period after no more than five hours of work. You can agree with your employer to split this eating period into two shorter breaks that total 30 minutes.
If you agree to receive 2 eating periods totalling 30 minutes, you must receive both breaks before your fifth hour of work begins.
To summarize … generally, your employer cannot make you work more than eight hours a day, or more hours than your regular working day, without your written consent.
Your employer cannot make you work more than 48 hours a week, without your written consent and the approval of the ministry's Director of Employment Standards.
Your employer cannot intimidate you, fire you, suspend you, reduce your pay, punish you in any way or threaten any of these actions, because you refuse to sign any of these agreements.
You are also entitled to time and a half for working more than 44 hours in a week.
You must get 11 consecutive hours off in a 24 hour period.
You must get either 24 consecutive hours off work each work week. Or, 48 consecutive hours off every two seeks.
We would remind you that these are the general rules that apply to most employees covered by the Employment Standards Act. There may be some exceptions.
For more detailed information on hours of work, please go to our website at Ontario.ca - forward slash - employment standards - one word. That's Ontario.ca - forward slash - employment standards - one word.
Or call our Employment Standards Information centre at 1-800-531-5551. That's 1-800-531-5551.
Thank you for listening to this week's segment on MOL Radio.