Education, Outreach and Partnership

• Issued: October 2011
• Content last reviewed: February 2012

See also:
Hours of Work and Overtime Tool
Employer Workbook
Termination Tool
Severance Tool
Public Holiday Pay Calculator
Special Rule Tool

Background

The goals of the Education, Outreach & Partnership ('EOP') strategy are:

• To create an environment where employers and employees understand their rights and obligations under the Employment Standards Act, 2000 ('ESA').
• To increase employer awareness of responsibilities under the ESA by providing employers with the resources and tools to help them comply.
• To encourage compliance with the ESA.

The Education, Outreach & Partnership (EOP) initiative began formally in 2009. Yet engagement with employers and employees covered by the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) has been part of the Employment Standards Program from its early history. It has long been recognized that education and compliance go hand in hand.

Formal measurement of how best to communicate with those covered with the Act began with a 2009 survey of small businesses in 10 communities across the province. Among other things, this project provided insight into which ESA provisions were poorly understood. Surveys continue to be an important tool in exploring how businesses and employees wish to receive information and where understanding needs improvement.

Read more about the survey.

Since the province wide survey the initiative has embraced the internet and digital technology. The Employment Standards Program reaches more people than ever before. More than 350,000 people have used the interactive tools since the first web tool was launched on April 1 2009.

User surveys are attached to all these tools. The vast majority reported finding these resources very helpful.

Satisfaction Rate of Tools Used (July 1, 2010 – June 30, 2011)

Figure 1: Data Table

	Not Helpful	Not Sure	Somewhat Helpful	Very Helpful
Public Pay Holiday Calculator	4%	2%	14%	79%
Severance	3%	8%	10%	78%
Termination	3%	9%	13%	75%
Workbook	4%	6%	12%	78%

While satisfaction with these tools has been high, the volume of users is also monitored.

More interactive web tools will be added this fiscal year.

Brochures

Three EOP brochures are available on line. The general ESA brochure, What Businesses Need To Know had been read by 43,000 and an additional 9000 hard copies were distributed as well. Two speciality brochures address recent changes to employment standards. Both brochures, Employers and Recruiters of Live-In Caregivers: What You Need to Know and What Temporary Help Agencies and Client Businesses Need to Know can be printed on-line.

Future Plans

In addition to more tools, EOP is interested in exploring new ways of information sharing, education and outreach. If you have an idea or request, please write us at eop@ontario.ca