https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/00e41#top

Wee Widgets makes widgets. Their factory in Pickering is open 7 days a week 24 hours a day. Wee Widgets employs 1000 people including Judy, Malik, Andy, Nathan and Faria. Their roles and start dates are as follows:

• Judy - Chief Operating Officer - September 15, 2011
• Malik - VP Operations - January 15, 2010
• Andy - Floor Supervisor - April 15, 2018
• Nathan - Widget Builder - May 15, 2014
• Faria - Widget Builder - October 15, 2018

Andy, Nathan and Faria typically work Monday through Friday from 7am to 4pm. Nathan earns $17.75 per hour and Faria earns $16.10 per hour, and Andy makes $21.45 per hour. They do not have a written employment contract. Judy and Malik are salaried employees earning $220,000.00 and $137,000.00 per year. On January 1, 2022 they sign a new employment contract which provides for reasonable notice upon termination, and contains a non-compete clause.

Andy, Nathan and Faria were not provided any written documents before or upon starting work.

Nathan showed Faria around when she first started working. When he took her into the lunchroom, Nathan pointed out that on the employee bulletin board was a copy of a 10 year old - 3 versions ago - Ministry of Labour poster. Faria asked how come the poster was so old and was told that the HR manager left in January 2020 and no one has bothered to do any of the HR work since.

In early August 2021, Nathan sent an email to Malik asking to take all of his vacation in one go as he was planning on going to Africa. Malik tells him that he would prefer that Nathan split his vacation into two blocks but if Nathan insisted than he could not go away in the months of November or December.

In early September 2021, Malik announced that Wee Widgets had landed a multi-million dollar contract. As a result, Malik was looking for volunteers to work extra hours until additional staff could be hired. From Monday, October 18 until Sunday November 7, 2021 Faria worked 6 days a week 11 hours a day. During that same period, Nathan and Andy continued to work Monday through Friday but worked 10 hours a day.

On Christmas Day 2021, Nathan and Faria both decided to work their regular hours since Wee Widgets said they would pay them extra for it. Neither want another day off for working Christmas Day - they want the money!

All employees' contracts specifically state that any and all overtime will be averaged over two weeks. It also states that all employees will receive a 2% pay rise every January 1, and every 5 years earn an additional 1 week vacation.

Andy and his spouse, Ahmed adopted twin boys. They brought the twins home from the hospital on August 10, 2021, having been born two days earlier. Ahmed also works at Wee Widgets but started in July 2009. As long-term employees, they both received extended health care benefits, including prescription and dental coverage.

Two months before bringing the twins home from the hospital, Andy and Ahmed advised Wee Widgets of the adoption and requested leave. They asked Malik the following:

• how long they were entitled to take off
• whether their vacation time continued to accrue during their leaves and if so when did they have to take their vacation
• whether their extended health care benefits continued while they were on leave

Ultimately, Malik advised Andy and Ahmed that the company would meet its obligations under the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (hereinafter the "ESA"). Not a particularly helpful answer for Andy and Ahmed as they did not know what they were and were not entitled to under the ESA.

Judy is married to Richard. They have 5 minor children. When they got married, Richard already had 2 children from a previous relationship (Jonathan and Justin). After getting married they had 3 children (Joseph, Joy and Jack). Richard is the primary-caregiver.

In one calendar year Judy and Richard's family experienced a lot of ups and downs that required them to take leaves from their employment, including:

• Richard required quintuple bypass surgery. The severity of his heart disease led Richard's doctors to tell Judy they did not know if he would survive
• In January Judy's son, Jack, is hospitalized overnight after a serious bout of food poisoning. She takes 5 days off work
• Judy's mother dies suddenly in February
• Judy receives a liver transplant in March
• Richard's son, Justin suffers life-threatening injuries snowmobiling. He required multiple surgeries and was hospitalized for 6 weeks
• Judy takes one day off for her mental health