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Offices and professional servicesCompliance for Ontario offices and professional firms
An office’s biggest rules come with headcount. At 25 employees, the Employment Standards Act adds written policies, job posting rules and new-hire information. Here’s what applies, and when.
How Prodigy Suite handles it
Disconnecting and monitoring policies
Drafted with the elements the Act requires, dated, and given to every employee within the 30 days the Act allows.
Job posting checks
Check each job ad against the 2026 rules with the free job posting checker.
Offer letters
Offer and employment letters signed on the employee’s phone, with notice and severance worked out for termination letters.
Harassment program
A program with the reporting routes and investigation steps the law lists, and a built-in course.
Payroll import
Hires, changes and leavers from your payroll export or a direct Rise or Humi connection.
Roles for your team
HR administrators, managers and two-step sign-in.
- Every office: workplace violence and harassment programs (harassment now includes virtual harassment by email, chat and social media), accessible customer service, awareness training and first aid.
- 25 or more employees on January 1: written policies on disconnecting from work and electronic monitoring, in place by March 1.
- 25 or more employees: job posting rules (pay ranges, AI disclosure) and written information for new hires before day one.
- 10 or more: pay equity. 20 or more: an accessibility compliance report, due December 31, 2026.
What Ontario requires of an office, by size
Workplace harassment policy and program
Every employer needs a written workplace harassment program. Once more than 5 workers regularly work at a workplace, the policy must also be in writing and posted.
What it must include
- A policy statement on workplace harassment, including workplace sexual harassment
- Coverage of harassment that happens virtually or through technology (email, chat, social media), part of the definition since October 28, 2024
- How workers report incidents to the employer or supervisor, naming who to report to
- Someone else to report to if the employer or supervisor is the alleged harasser
- How incidents and complaints will be investigated and dealt with
- How information will be kept confidential, except where disclosure is needed to investigate, take corrective action or is required by law
- How the worker who complained and the alleged harasser will be told the results of the investigation and any corrective action
OHSA, s. 1(1) "workplace harassment"; ss. 32.0.1, 32.0.6, 32.0.7 · Official source
Workplace violence policy and program
Every employer needs a workplace violence policy and program. Once more than 5 workers regularly work at a workplace, the policy must be in writing and posted there.
What it must include
- A policy statement on workplace violence
- Measures and procedures to control the risks of violence identified in a risk assessment
- How to summon immediate assistance when violence occurs or is likely to occur
- How workers report incidents or threats of violence to the employer or supervisor
- How the employer will investigate and deal with incidents, complaints and threats of violence
OHSA, ss. 32.0.1–32.0.5 · Official source
Written policy on disconnecting from work
Employers with 25 or more employees on January 1 need the written policy in place by March 1 that year.
What it must include
- A written policy on disconnecting from work that covers all employees
- The date the policy was prepared (day, month and year)
- The date of any changes made to the policy
ESA, Part VII.0.1, s. 21.1.2 · Official source
Written policy on electronic monitoring
Employers with 25 or more employees on January 1 need the written policy in place by March 1 that year.
What it must include
- A statement of whether the employer electronically monitors employees
- If it does, how and in what circumstances it may monitor
- The purposes for which information obtained through monitoring may be used
- The date the policy was prepared (day, month and year)
- The date of any changes made to the policy
ESA, Part XI.1, s. 41.1.1 · Official source
Written information for new hires before day one
Employers with 25 or more employees give new hires certain written information before their first day.
ESA, new-hire information requirement (in force July 1, 2025) · Official source
Rules for publicly advertised job postings (if you advertise jobs publicly)
Employers with 25 or more employees that advertise jobs publicly.
ESA, Part III.1; O. Reg. 476/24 (in force January 1, 2026) · Official source
Pay equity
Private-sector employers with 10 or more employees must pay female job classes the same as male job classes of equal value.
Pay Equity Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.7, s. 3 · Official source
Accessibility compliance report
Businesses with 20 or more employees file an accessibility compliance report every three years.
AODA, S.O. 2005, c. 11, s. 14 · Official source
From the same rules the free audit checks, last reviewed October 13, 2026. See every requirement by size.
Common questions
Does an office with 25 employees need an electronic monitoring policy?
Yes, if it has 25 or more employees in Ontario on January 1. The written policy must be in place by March 1, say whether and how employees are monitored and for what purposes, and go to every employee within 30 days.
Do part-time employees count toward the 25?
Yes. Part-time and casual employees each count as one, whatever their hours, and so do probationary employees, people on leave or lay-off, and people on fixed-term contracts. Only employees in Ontario count, on January 1.
Does a disconnecting from work policy have to give employees a right to disconnect?
No. The Act requires a written policy for all employees, with the date it was prepared and the dates of any changes, but it doesn’t specify what the policy says or create a new right to disconnect. The employer decides the content.
Sources
- Ontario: Written policy on disconnecting from work
- Ontario: Written policy on electronic monitoring of employees
- Ontario: Requirements for publicly advertised job postings
- Ontario: Mandatory information for employees
This page summarizes Ontario’s rules as of October 13, 2026 for general information. It isn’t legal advice, and Prodigy Suite isn’t a law firm. Each rule links to the official source; for a specific situation, speak to an Ontario employment lawyer.
See what applies to your business
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