Ontario ESA Amendments Creating New Long Term Disability Leave and Information Requirements Now in Force

Ontario employers are facing two new obligations under amendments to the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) which are now coming into force.

Long Term Illness Leave: Effective June 19, 2025, Ontario employees with 13 weeks of service are entitled to take up to 27 weeks in any 52 week period off work due to a “serious medical condition”, known as a “long term illness leave”. Employers are entitled to request a medical certificate from a “qualified medical practitioner” confirming the employee has a serious medical condition that prevents them from working and sets out the duration of the absence required. The duration of the leave will be for the lesser of the duration in the certificate and 27 weeks. It is also possible for the employee to seek an extension of or second leave after the initial period of absence of less than 27 weeks, subject to an overall cap of 27 weeks in any 52-week period. If after a 52-week period has elapsed, the employee requires another leave, they can take up to the same amount of leave in the following 52-week period. The term “serious medical condition” is not defined, other than to say that it includes a condition that is chronic or episodic. Presumably, almost any kind of mental or physical illness or injury will qualify. No employer right to dispute the leave is contemplated.

These changes create, for the first time in Ontario, a clear legal right for employees to take long-term disability leave for a defined period of time. They do not supersede the broader duty to accommodate employees with disabilities (which would cover almost all “serious medical conditions”) under the Human Rights Code, which often requires the employer to maintain employment for substantially longer than 27 weeks. The new long-term illness leave does establish a clear minimum disability leave that is protected by the ESA. Like all other ESA leaves, employers are required to reinstate the employee to either their old job or a comparable one at the end of the leave. Left unclear is whether employers can still ask for more detailed medical information beyond the simple certificate required to take the long-term illness leave in order to assess the employee’s illness/disability and whether any accommodation is available to allow the employee to return to work. Our tentative view would be that such requests can still be made as part of the duty to accommodate.

Employee Information to be Provided on Hire: Effective July 1, 2025, Ontario employers with 25 or more employees must provide the following information in writing to new hires before they start work or as soon thereafter as possible:

1. The legal name of the employer, including any business name it operates under;
2. Contact information for the employer, including address, telephone number and one or more contact names;
3. A general description of where the employee will work;
4. Starting pay, including hourly rate or salary or commission rate;
5. Pay period and first pay day; and
6. A general description of the employee’s initial anticipated hours of work.

While most employers already provide most of this information, those using more informal hiring procedures will have to implement new procedures to comply with this requirement. We strongly recommend that employers use written employment agreements when hiring which can incorporate this data, as well as protecting other key interests of the employer. There is recent case law that suggests that sending this type of information and asking the employee to agree or accept it, even in an informal email, may form a contract on its own. Thus, a further contract with additional terms such as a termination clause would require additional consideration (i.e. some new benefit) for the employee to be binding and enforceable.

Employers with 25 employees or more will need to review their hiring documents to ensure all of the mandatory points above are covered in them e.g. many employers do not necessarily state the pay period used or location of work in their letters of hire or employment agreements.

We strongly recommend that Ontario employers review their sick/disability leave policies and hiring documents to ensure compliance with these new requirements. We would be happy to assist you with this review.

If you want more information on this topic, you can contact us at:

Geoffrey Howard:           ghoward@howardlaw.ca

604 424-9686

Sebastian Chern:            schern@howardlaw.ca

604 424-9688