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Domestic Workers What are domestic workers?Domestic workers are employed directly by householders, and not by a business or agency. An employee who is hired by a business, agency or any person other than the householder to perform homemaking services for a householder is classified as a ‘homemaker’ and subject to special rules and exemptions under the ESA. A householder is someone who owns or rents the home where the domestic work is done. Domestic workers are hired to work in a private home. They do things such as housekeeping, or provide care, supervision or personal assistance to children or people who are elderly, ill or disabled. Domestic workers have the same rights under the ESA whether they work part-time or full-time, and whether they live in or out of their employer’s home. A sitter who provides occasional, short-term care, supervision or personal assistance to children is not considered a domestic worker. Neither is someone who is employed by an agency to work in a private home. Does the ESA cover domestic workers?Yes. Domestic workers have the same rights as other employees in Ontario workplaces under the ESA. In the past, ‘domestic servants’ were exempt from a number of parts of the employment standards laws, while ‘domestics’ were exempt from others. There is no longer a distinction between a domestic and a domestic servant. What rights do domestic workers have under the ESA?The ESA contains rules on the following key subjects that apply to most employees in Ontario, including domestic workers:
Note: There are rules about qualifying for some of the ESA protections listed above. This fact sheet provides a brief overview of key employee rights relating to hours of work, minimum wage, overtime, public holidays and vacations. What is the minimum wage rate for domestic workers?The general minimum wage rate applies to domestic workers except to certain students. Students under the age of 18:
are entitled to the student minimum wage. Students who work more than 28 hours a week when school is in session are entitled to the general minimum wage.
Can an employer take into account the provision of room and meals to a domestic worker when calculating minimum wage?Yes, but there are limits. Room and/or meals (board) shall not be deemed to have been paid as wages unless the employee has received the meals or occupied the room. An employee’s gross pay, before any deductions are made for such things as Canada Pension Plan (CPP), Employment Insurance (EI) and income tax, must add up to at least the minimum wage for all hours worked. However, the ESA and regulations provide that certain amounts are deemed to have been paid if the employer provides the employee with room or board or both. The amounts that an employer is deemed to have paid for room or board or both are set out below: Room: weekly
An employer may only deem the provision of room and meals (board) as payment of wages to the employee where the room is reasonably furnished, reasonably fit for human habitation, supplied with clean bed linen and towels and is reasonably accessible to proper toilet and wash basin facilities. Meals
Room and meals (board): weekly
* These amounts apply only to domestic workers. Where the employee has been provided with room and/or board, the employer is deemed to have paid the employee the amount allowed for room and/or board. The employer must therefore pay the employee (before deductions for such things as CPP, EI or income tax) the difference between the minimum wage for all hours worked and the amount deemed to have been paid for room and/or board.
Do domestic workers get overtime pay?For most employees, including domestic workers, overtime begins after they have worked 44 hours in a work week. After that time, they must receive overtime pay. (See the chart in the “How are You Covered by the ESA” Fact Sheet for jobs where there are exceptions to the usual overtime rules.) Overtime pay is at least 1½ times the employee’s regular rate of pay. (This is often called “time and a half.”) An employee and an employer can agree in writing that the employee will receive paid time off work instead of overtime pay. In this case, the employee must be given 1½ hours of paid time off work for each hour of overtime worked. The paid time off must be taken within three months of the week in which it was earned or, if the employee agrees in writing, within 12 months. Overtime pay is calculated on a weekly basis, or if there is a written averaging agreement between the employee and employer, over a period of not more than four weeks. If an employee’s job ends before he or she has taken the paid time off, the employee must receive overtime pay no later than seven days after the date the employment ended, or on what would have been the employee’s next payday, whichever is later. What are the maximum hours of work for domestic employees?For most employees, including domestic workers, the maximum number of hours they can be required to work is:
These hours of work maximums can be exceeded by written agreement between the employee and employer. However, employees cannot work more than 60 hours a week unless the Ministry of Labour’s Director of Employment Standards approves the agreement between the employee and employer. Generally, an agreement can be cancelled with two weeks’ written notice by the employee and reasonable notice by the employer. For further details see the “Hours of Work & Overtime” Fact Sheet. What hours free from work are domestic workers entitled to?Most employees, including domestic workers, are entitled to a certain number of hours free from having to work. DailyAn employee must receive at least 11 consecutive hours off work each day. This employment standard cannot be altered by a written agreement between the employer and employee. It applies even if:
However, this rule doesn’t apply to employees who are on call and are called in during a period when they wouldn’t normally be working. Between shiftsEmployees must receive at least eight hours off work between shifts. This requirement doesn’t apply if the total time worked on both shifts is not more than 13 hours. For example, a domestic worker working a split shift or back-to-back shifts in a home wouldn’t need to receive eight hours off between shifts as long as the total time worked on the two shifts did not exceed 13 hours. An employer and employee can also agree in writing that the employee will receive less than eight hours off work between shifts. Weekly or BiweeklyEmployees must receive at least:
This requirement cannot be altered by written agreement between the employer and employee. What eating periods and breaks are domestic workers entitled to?An employee must not work for more than five consecutive hours without getting a 30-minute eating period (meal break) free from work. However, if the employer and employee agree, the eating period may be taken as two shorter eating periods within every five hour period. Together these meal breaks must total at least 30 minutes. This agreement can be oral or in writing. Meal breaks are unpaid unless the employee’s employment contract requires payment. Even if the employer pays for meal breaks, the employee must be free from work. Meal breaks, whether paid or unpaid, aren’t considered hours of work, and aren’t counted toward overtime. Employers don’t have to give employees “coffee” breaks or any other kind of break other than meal breaks. Employees who are required to remain at the workplace during a coffee break or other type of break other than an eating period must be paid at least the minimum wage for that time. If an employee is free to leave the workplace during the coffee break or other type of break, the employer doesn’t have to pay for the time. Do domestic workers get public holidays off?Like most employees, domestic workers who qualify are entitled to take public holidays off work and be paid public holiday pay. Or they can agree in writing to work on the holiday, and the employer must pay the domestic worker wages at his or her regular rate for the hours worked on the public holiday, and give the employee a substitute day off with public holiday pay. However, if the employer and employee agree in writing, the employee is entitled to public holiday pay for the day plus premium pay of at least 1½ times his or her regular rate for each hour worked on the public holiday. Domestic workers qualify for public holiday entitlements unless they:
* Employees are generally considered to have “reasonable cause” for missing work when something beyond their control—such as illness, for example—prevents them from working.) Note: Most employees who don’t qualify for public holiday entitlements would be entitled to be paid premium pay (time and a half) for every hour they work on the holiday. Domestic workers may be qualified for public holidays whether they are part-time, full-time, permanent or on a defined term contract or students. It doesn’t matter how recently employees were hired, or how many days they worked before the public holiday. [Note however that there are occupations and employees to whom the public holidays part of the ESA does not apply. For more information, please see the “How Are You Covered by the ESA?” and “Public Holidays” Fact Sheets.] Do domestic workers get vacations?Most employees, including domestic workers, are eligible for a minimum of two weeks of vacation with pay after each 12 months of employment, starting from the date they are hired. If the employer establishes a 12-month vacation entitlement year that does not start on the anniversary date of the employee’s hire, the employee is also entitled to a pro-rated amount of vacation with pay for the period (stub period) before the 12-month vacation entitlement year begins. Vacation pay is calculated as at least four per cent of the employee's “gross” wages (excluding vacation pay and before any deductions, including room and board) earned in the period for which the vacation is being given. Employees who do not complete either the stub period or the 12-month vacation entitlement year don’t qualify for vacation time. However, employees earn vacation pay as they earn wages, so they will be entitled to four per cent of the wages they have earned as vacation pay. Vacation pay is due before an employee takes his or her vacation, except when:
For further details, including information about when and how vacation may be taken, see the “Vacation” Fact Sheet. What information must an employer give a domestic worker?Domestic workers must get information in writing about their jobs from their employers. This written information must include:
Domestic workers, like other employees, must receive a written wage statement regarding each pay period, on or before the employee’s payday. The written wage statement must set out:
Vacation Information StatementsIf the employee has agreed to the payment of accrued vacation pay on each pay day, the amount of vacation pay paid must be set out separately from the other information on the wage statement or it can be provided on a separate statement. In all other cases, the employer is required to provide employees with at least one statement providing information about vacation time and pay for each completed vacation entitlement year or stub period, on the written request of the employee. See the “Vacation” Fact Sheet. What kind of information must employers keep?All employers in Ontario, including anyone who employs domestic workers, must keep written records about each person they hire. Employee records may be retained either by employers or by someone else on their behalf, but must be readily available for inspection. The period of retention varies depending on the information. For example, the employee’s name, address and starting date must be retained for three years after the employee ceases to be employed. The number of hours the employee worked in each day and week must be retained for three years after the day or week in question. Each employee’s written record must contain:
Note: An employee is entitled to information about his or her vacation time and pay entitlement once per year, on written request to the employer. See the “Vacation” Fact Sheet for more details. Exception to the rule: hours of work recordsIf a domestic worker receives a fixed salary for each pay period, and the salary doesn’t change unless the domestic worker works overtime, the employer is only required to record:
What if the employer does not follow the ESA?If an employee thinks the employer is not complying with the ESA , he or she can call or visit the nearest Ministry of Labour office to discuss a particular situation or to file a complaint. Complaints are investigated by an employment standards officer who can, if necessary, make orders against an employer - including an order to comply with the ESA. The ministry has a number of options to enforce the ESA, including requesting voluntary compliance, issuing an order to pay wages, an order to comply, an order to compensate, an order to reinstate and/or a notice of contravention, or issuing a ticket or otherwise prosecuting the employer under the Provincial Offences Act.
Employment
Standards Information Centre
Ministry of Labour |
Employment Standards Act
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