Form: Employment Standards Claim

• Issued: January 2011
• Content last reviewed: January 2011
• See also: Employment Standards Claims | Disclaimer

If you have an issue with your employer related to your employment standards, you generally must try to contact your employer about the matter. Issues can often be resolved quickly with this approach. Using the optional tools provided by the ministry may make this process easier, but you do not have to use them.

You may also file a claim with the Ministry of Labour. Claim Forms are available online below as well as at ServiceOntario Centres.

Here are some important things to remember:

• Filing a claim is free.
• It is against the law for your employer to punish you for filing a claim.
• If you file a claim and provide all the required information, Ministry of Labour staff will investigate your claim.
• Claims are investigated as quickly as possible. The time it takes to complete the process varies.
• There are some situations where an employee is not entitled to file a claim. Learn more.

Making it Easier

The ministry has published a Claim Form Guide with detailed instructions about how to complete the Claim Form. Follow these four steps:

Step 1: Have you contacted your employer?

You generally must contact your employer or former employer (or the client of a temporary help agency, if applicable) about the employment standard right(s) you believe have been violated and the amount of money you are owed.

This step does not apply to everyone. For more information on reasons why you may not need to contact your employer, please see “Reasons Employees May Not Have to Contact Their Employer” in Your Guide to the Employment Standards Act, 2000.

Step 2: Collect important documents

You are encouraged to collect important documents about your work history before completing the Claim Form. Having these documents close at hand will help you in filling out the Claim Form.

Step 3: Fill out the Claim Form

It may take you an hour or more to fill out the Claim Form.

You must fill out the required information on the Claim Form which is marked by an asterisk (*). It is important to read the important information contained in the Before You Start Booklet before completing the Claim Form.

Step 4: Send your Claim Form to the Ministry of Labour and receive your claim submission number

It is recommended that you file your claim submission online below. You will receive your claim submission number immediately.

You may also file your claim submission:

• By fax: 1-888-252-4684.
• In person at a ServiceOntario Centre (1-800-267-8097).
• By mail to:

  Provincial Claims Centre
  Ministry of Labour
  70 Foster Drive, Suite 410
  Roberta Bondar Place
  Sault Ste. Marie, ON P6A 6V4

Note: If you file your claim submission by fax, in person, or by mail, you will receive a letter in the mail with your claim number once all of your required information has been verified. If your claim submission is missing required information, you will receive a letter in the mail with your claim submission number, and a request to provide that information.

A claim submission number is assigned as soon as the ministry receives and registers your Claim Form. You will be provided with a claim number and your claim will be assigned for investigation once the ministry has verified that all required information has been completed.

Please only file your claim once. For example, if you have filed your claim online, please do not send another copy of your claim form to the Ministry of Labour.

This information is provided as a public service. Although we endeavour to ensure that the information is as current and accurate as possible, errors do occasionally occur. Therefore, we cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information. Readers should, where possible, verify the information before acting on it.