The Employment Standards Act is the law that contains basic rules about employing people and working. Both employees and employers have rights and

responsibilities under the Act.

 

Most employees are covered by the provincial legislation. However, employees working in industries that fall under Federal jurisdiction, such as, Post office, Banks, Railways, Radio stations, Airlines, Television stations etc. are not covered. 

 

If you are member of the trade union and your contract of employment is governed by the collective agreement, you may not be covered by the Act.

 

If you are currently employed with the company, you may be able to file a claim with a request that your name not be disclosed. The Act protects you when you are exercising your rights under it.

 

Section 35 of the Act states:

 

This section requires the employer to schedule employee’s vacation within 10 months after he or she has completed a vacation entitlement year, that is, if the employer has established a different time frame for the purpose of calculating vacation than the date of hire or anniversary date. If the employer fails to carry out this obligation, it loses the right to schedule employee’s vacation and the employee may take vacation without the approval or consent of the employer. However, the employee cannot take vacation without the approval or consent of the employer within 10 months after completing vacation entitlement year. If the employee does so, he or she may be considered to have abandoned the job thus losing the right to notice of termination or termination pay.

 

The employer should give the employee at least two weeks continuous vacation or two periods of one week each at a time, unless the employee requests in writing that he or she would take shorter period and the employer agrees to the employee’s request. As an example, the employee may wish to take vacation one day at a time or some other combination, the employee must make such a request to the employer in writing and the employer must agree to it. In other words, it is up to the employer to agree to a vacation schedule which is different from either two weeks vacation at a time or two periods of one week.

 

If the employer gives more than two weeks vacation, the employer is subjected to these requirements only for the two weeks that is the required minimum under the Act. For greater than two weeks vacation, the employer is free to schedule employee’s vacation as it sees fit, that is, if the employer chooses to give extra vacation one day at a time or some other combination, it can do so without being considered to have violated the Act.

 

If you or the employer disagrees with the investigating officer’s decision, both parties have a right to appeal to Ontario Labour Relations Board within 30 days of the officer’s decision. The Board appoints a referee to hear the appeal. It does not cost the employee to request an appeal but the employer may be required to deposit monies in trust with the Ministry of Labour if it is found to be owing. The referee decision is final and binding on both parties.    

 

In the past, the Ministry was very aggressive in defending the rights of an employee and would send a legal counsel to represent the employee at the Board’s hearing to deal with the matter. It rarely does so now. Obviously, the employer has advantage over the employee in these circumstances. The question arises, should the employee also engage the services of a professional? It is my view, employee’s may not engage such services at the officer’s level hearing but may do so at the at the referee level hearing, particularly, if the issues are complex.

 

It is important that if a hearing has been scheduled, the employee must attend such a hearing to present evidence to support its position or to contest the employer’s evidence, otherwise, the officer or the referee may rely on the evidence of the employer to render a decision.   

 

This information is provided for guidance only and should not be considered as a legal advice.

This article is provided by Rajinder K. Batra, who is a retired Employment Standards Officer with the Ministry of Labour with 15 years experience in these matters.

If you have any questions regarding your employment, please contact the writer by e-mail at   This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it   

If you don’t have access to e-mail; you can fax your question at (905) 331-1805.

The Employment Standards Act is the law that contains basic rules about employing people and working. Both employees and employers have rights and

responsibilities under the Act.

 

Most employees are covered by the provincial legislation. However, employees working in industries that fall under Federal jurisdiction, such as, Post office, Banks, Railways, Radio stations, Airlines, Television stations etc. are not covered. 

 

If you are member of the trade union and your contract of employment is governed by the collective agreement, you may not be covered by the Act.

 

If you are currently employed with the company, you may be able to file a claim with a request that your name not be disclosed. The Act protects you when you are exercising your rights under it.

 

Section 33 (1) of the Act states:

 

This provision provides that all employees are entitled to vacation of at least two weeks after completing a year of service. The employer is able to designate vacation entitlement year as it suits its business. In other words, it does not have to be a calendar year or on the anniversary of his or her hire date. The employee does not lose any vacation entitlement if the employer has established a different vacation entitlement date.

 

The employer has been given the responsibility to ensure that each employee receives the minimum statutory requirement. Where the employer has established an “alternative vacation entitlement year”, section 34 establishes the employee’s entitlement to a pro-rated amount of vacation time for the period of employment that precedes the first alternative vacation entitlement year.

 

The right to two weeks of vacation time accrues only after completion of each 12 month vacation entitlement year. However, vacation time may be taken prior to the expiry of the 12 months entitlement year if the employer is agreeable to this or if the contract of employment clearly provides for that entitlement. The Act does place the restriction on the employer to give vacation entitlement within 10 months after completing 12 months of service.  

 

The Act does not restrict the employer to provide more than two weeks vacation for each year of service but only that it cannot be less than two weeks. The Act distinguishes between vacation time and vacation pay. The fact that the employer provides greater benefit regarding vacation time, it does not necessarily mean that vacation pay too would be greater than the minimum required. For vacation pay to be grater than the minimum 4%, the contract of employment must clearly state so, otherwise, it is 4%.

 

Section 33(2) of the Act states:

 

This section clarifies that total employment period is used for calculating employee’s entitlement. It does not matter if he or she was considered as an active employee. As long as the employer/employee relationship remains, the total period is taken into account for the purpose of calculating his or her entitlement. However, vacation pay is calculated on the basis of wages earned during this period of active or non active period.  

If you or the employer disagrees with the investigating officer’s decision, both parties have a right to appeal to Ontario Labour Relations Board within 30 days of the officer’s decision. The Board appoints a referee to hear the appeal. It does not cost the employee to request an appeal but the employer may be required to deposit monies in trust with the Ministry of Labour if it is found to be owing. The referee decision is final and binding on both parties.    

 

In the past, the Ministry was very aggressive in defending the rights of an employee and would send a legal counsel to represent the employee at the Board’s hearing to deal with the matter. It rarely does so now. Obviously, the employer has advantage over the employee in these circumstances. The question arises, should the employee also engage the services of a professional? It is my view, employee’s may not engage such services at the officer’s level hearing but may do so at the at the referee level hearing, particularly, if the issues are complex.

 

It is important that if a hearing has been scheduled, the employee must attend such a hearing to present evidence to support its position or to contest the employer’s evidence, otherwise, the officer or the referee may rely on the evidence of the employer to render a decision.   

 

This information is provided for guidance only and should not be considered as a legal advice.

This article is provided by Rajinder K. Batra, who is a retired Employment Standards Officer with the Ministry of Labour with 15 years experience in these matters.

If you have any questions regarding your employment, please contact the writer by e-mail at  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  

If you don’t have access to e-mail; you can fax your question at (905) 331-1805.
 

Many of our clients ask us about social tools such as Twitter, Facebook, & YouTube among others.

As the one of the most surprisingly relevant tools to the modern day social business, this piece will take you through YouTube – what it is, how to use it and the benefits of creating your profile to grow your brand.

What is YouTube?

Unless you haven’t been using the Internet for the last few years (or don’t watch America’s Got Talent!), you have heard of YouTube. Simply put, YouTube is a video sharing website where users can upload videos for others to watch.

Before YouTube, there weren’t many places to easily stream videos. When it launched in 2005, it quickly exploded in popularity and by early 2009, YouTube had 83 million unique visitors per month, was the fifth biggest brand on the Internet, and Credit Suisse estimated that over 40% of streamed videos in the U.S. go through YouTube.

The power of YouTube is its ability to make unlikely stars out of unknown people and things -And this produces YouTube’s major benefit for businesses.

What does it mean when something goes Viral? Do I need to get a shot to protect myself?

Put the needle away (Thank God!) YouTube can let your efforts become “viral.” Though comparable to being contagious, a viral advertisement is simply an ad that naturally spreads without a push from marketers.

The YouTube video for Old Spice, called “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like”, is a perfect example of this. (If you haven’t seen it, watch it now before continuing on this with this post because how they’ve leveraged an already great commercial using Twitter and YouTube is pure marketing genius


ArtCreative Design and Custom coding

The original video has almost 18,000,000 views as of this writing!

How would your business do if you could get even a fraction of that kind of market visibility?

Although viral videos can have a profound impact much stronger than their initial marketing investment, getting something to go viral can be one of the most difficult things to achieve. Fortunately, getting a video to go viral isn’t YouTube’s only benefit for business.

More benefits of using YouTube for your business

1. YouTube can help you recruit new employees. You can use YouTube to advertise for new employees by showing what you have to offer and what they can expect. This works really well if your company or business is very different than what people normally expect from a company.

2. How To Videos. People are always looking for information on how to do things on the Internet. If you are marketing a product or service that can be complicated to new users, think about creating a branded how to video. It will give people a taste of what you have to offer, and people will be drawn to its useful information.

3. PR and company communications. News releases can be very dry, and when newspapers pick them up, they filter and skew your message. Putting a PR video on YouTube, however, enables any interested party to hear the truth directly from you. And hearing news from a person is always more exciting than reading it.

4. Market research. Posting a new ad on YouTube before you put it on TV can give you free, instant and honest feedback on whether it is working or not. With the site’s metrics, you can also gauge who is watching the video, where they live, and how they are finding your video. Just don’t let it go viral if the response is becoming negative!

5. Training and employee communication. Although there are other services that provide more secure online video viewing, businesses that have to deal with a lot of freelancers with a wide variety of computers and interfaces know that showing a video directly to all of them at the same time can be a major headache. In contrast, almost everyone can watch YouTube videos, and they can watch them in their spare time. It may not be the most secure method to deliver employee communications, but it can save you a lot of hassle.

6. Deliver sales pitches to clients. Sometimes you want to create a strong pitch to a few selected clients. Creating a custom made video and uploading it to YouTube can be exactly what they are looking for. This can work well for real estate agents, decorators, or even dog groomers – any business person whose personality is a part of their business. Embedding custom videos to your blog or website can also make those sites more engaging, and will encourage people to spend more time on them.

7. Cultivating a brand. A local restaurant that wants people to find it fun, wacky and engaging might make a couple of videos showcasing their friendly staff and delicious food. A natural products manufacturer might show off the ways they make their products and the good things that go into them. Adding YouTube videos to your site will not only create a hard pitch, but will also help people associate certain emotions to your company or business.

Now what?

A well executed video with the right title and content, can have huge viral impacts for your brand, especially if your video reaches the most viewed pages. There are also numerous other ways to optimize your videos, but coming up with an interesting concept and being aware of title, tagging, and thumbnail image, should each be key components of your strategy.
With the flexibility of YouTube there are many more benefits that gang&lani productions can help you discover – Until then, consider YouTube the next time you are stuck with a business problem, or perhaps looking to launch a product/service - and it might be the best solution for your brand strategy!

Need some more guidance or help? Feel free to email us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
gang&lani productions | www.gangandlaniproductions.com
brand & land | www.brandandland.com

About the author: Sanju Ganglani

With over 7 years of experience with 3 of the largest hardware and software Fortune 500 companies, Sanju Ganglani is the president of gang&lani productions, Toronto based custom marketing services company specializing in brand management, web marketing, event management and revenue generation planning. Sanju is also the co-founder of brand & land, where candidates and companies are assisted with building their brands and equipped with the tools to be successful with employment and client acquisitions.

You can reach him at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , find him on twitter @gangandlani, on facebook.

Visit www.gangandlaniproductions.com or
www.brandandland.com for more information
 

The Employment Standards Act is the law that contains basic rules about employing people and working. Both employees and employers have rights and

responsibilities under the Act.

 

Most employees are covered by the provincial legislation. However, employees working in industries that fall under Federal jurisdiction, such as, Post office, Banks, Railways, Radio stations, Airlines, Television stations etc. are not covered. 

 

If you are member of the trade union and your contract of employment is governed by the collective agreement, you may not be covered by the Act.

 

If you are currently employed with the company, you may be able to file a claim with a request that your name not be disclosed. The Act protects you when you are exercising your rights under it.

 

The Act requires an employer to give two weeks vacation with pay for each year of service to an employee. However, it is the employer’s call when the employee will take his or her vacation? The employer can schedule his or her vacation within 10 months after he or she becomes entitled to. If the employer fails to do so, the employer loses the right to schedule employee’s vacation and the employee can take his or her vacation without the approval of the employer.

 

Some employers determine employee’s entitlement on the anniversary of the hire date while others may calculate differently, such as year end or the company’s fiscal year. The employee does not lose any entitlement from the date of hire to the date the employer has chosen for calculating his or her entitlement. The employee is entitled to the pro-rated amount of vacation time for the period.

 

Vacation pay is accrued at the rate of 4% of his or her wages which he or she can draw when going on vacation. In the case of salaried employee, the salary continues when the employee goes on vacation. In the case of hourly employees or employees who are paid in a manner which is different from a regular salary, such as commission or on a number of pieces the employee produces etc., the vacation pay is calculated as stated above.

 

All employees are entitled to vacation pay whether they are part-time or full-time. There is no waiting period for the employee to qualify for vacation pay. He or she is entitled to vacation pay from the time they become employee. Employees who do not have regular work week are entitled to vacation equal to two times the average number of days the employee works over a year.

 

The Act does not provide more than two weeks vacation regardless of the number of years an employee works for the employer, although, the employer is free to provide grater benefit. Likewise, the vacation pay is calculated at 4% regardless of the number of weeks the employee gets under company benefits unless the contract of employment clearly states so. For example, if the employee gets three weeks vacation under company plan, it does not translate into 6% vacation pay unless the contract of employment specifically requires or the employer voluntarily pays.

 

The employer must give vacation of one or two weeks at one time unless the employee requests in writing and the employer agrees to the employee’s request in writing for a shorter period.         

 

If you or the employer disagrees with the investigating officer’s decision, both parties have a right to appeal to Ontario Labour Relations Board within 30 days of the officer’s decision. The Board appoints a referee to hear the appeal. It does not cost the employee to request an appeal but the employer may be required to deposit monies in trust with the Ministry of Labour if it is found to be owing. The referee decision is final and binding on both parties.    

 

In the past, the Ministry was very aggressive in defending the rights of an employee and would send a legal counsel to represent the employee at the Board’s hearing to deal with the matter. It rarely does so now. Obviously, the employer has advantage over the employee in these circumstances. The question arises, should the employee also engage the services of a professional? It is my view, employee’s may not engage such services at the officer’s level hearing but may do so at the at the referee level hearing, particularly, if the issues are complex.

 

It is important that if a hearing has been scheduled, the employee must attend such a hearing to present evidence to support its position or to contest the employer’s evidence, otherwise, the officer or the referee may rely on the evidence of the employer to render a decision.   

 

This information is provided for guidance only and should not be considered as a legal advice.

This article is provided by Rajinder K. Batra, who is a retired Employment Standards Officer with the Ministry of Labour with 15 years experience in these matters.

If you have any questions regarding your employment, please contact the writer by e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

If you don’t have access to e-mail; you can fax your question at (905) 331-1805.