SCENARIO FOR ESA ASSIGNMENT

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 9am to 5pm.Nathan earns minimum wage, Faria earns $18.00 per hour and Andy makes $26.00 per hour.They do not have a written employment contract.Judy and Malik are salaried employees earning $170,000.00 and $120,000.00 per year.Their employment contract is written and provides for reasonable notice upon termination.

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 2018 and no one has bothered to complete any of the HR work since.

In early October 2020, 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 19 until Sunday November 8, 2020 Faria worked 6 days a week 9 hours a day.During that same period, Nathan and Andy continued to work Monday through Friday but worked 9 hours a day.

On Christmas Day 2020, 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!

In early January 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 April and May.

Andy and his spouse, Ahmed adopted twin boys.They brought the twins home from the hospital on January 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 suffered through many tragedies and emotionally damaging experiences, including:

In January, Richard was diagnosed with kidney cancer

In March, Jonathan broke his leg skiing on a school trip and was in the hospital for one week and off school for a total of two weeks

In May, Judy's aunt died following a multi-year battle with Alzheimer.Judy took two weeks off of work to provide support and care to her aunt before she died and after her aunt's doctors advised that her aunt would not live more than a month

In August, Judy donated one of her kidneys to Richard

In September, while on a school trip at Algonquin Park, Joy got lost in the woods.Joy was found safe two days later

In October, Richard's father died suddenly from a heart attack

1. Can an employer and employee agree to contract out of the minimum standards of theEmployment Standards Act, 2000? Identify which section says that. (1 mark)
2. Is Labour Day a public holiday? Which section in the ESA says that? (1 mark)
3. For working Labour Day 2019, identify two ways Wee Widgets can pay Faria the two ways she is paid)? Please identify all relevant sections of the ESA. (3 marks)
4. For working Labour Day 2019, how much money should Faria be paid? Your answer should address only monetary compensation. You do NOT need to deduct time for breaks or add in vacation pay. (10 marks)
5. If Wee Widgets paid Faria and Nathan in accordance with the ESA, what would each have earned ($$) per week between Monday, November 4 and Sunday December 15, 2019? Please identify the sections of the ESA that apply. (17 marks)
6. As adoptive parents, are Andy and Ahmed entitled to pregnancy leave? Which section of the ESA addresses this? (1 mark)
7. As adoptive parents, are they entitled to parental leave? Which section of the ESA addresses this? (1 mark)
8. How many weeks of parental leave are they entitled to take pursuant to the ESA? Which section of the ESA says this? (1 mark)
9. What five specific and different protections does the ESA provide for those returning from parental leave? Which sections of the ESA speak to this? (5 marks)
10. If Andy or Ahmed take an unpaid leave of absence, not a statutory leave, are they still entitled to the protections identified in question 9? How do you know this to be true? (1 mark)