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Section 01

HR Policy & Compliance

Which HR policies Ontario employers are required to have, what separates a compliant policy from one that just exists, and the questions owners ask before they write one.

Jurisdiction
Ontario
For
SMB owners & HR leads
Knowledge base
9 sourced notes
Updated
June 2026

HR policy and compliance is the gap between the rules you’ve written down and the rules Ontario actually holds you to. A small set of policies is mandatory and most of a handbook is good practice. A policy only protects you if it fits the law and you follow it.

Most Ontario employers we meet aren’t missing policies. They’ve inherited a template handbook, or written something years ago and never touched it. The trouble starts when a harassment complaint, a termination or an ESA claim tests what they wrote. A policy that doesn’t fit Ontario law, that nobody was told about, or that you never actually followed turns from protection into evidence against you.

Statutory thresholds and deadlines change, so the figures below link out to the current rule on ontario.ca. Each point also links down to the sourced note behind it.

Ontario law

You must put these policies in writing

The written policies Ontario law makes mandatory, and who each one applies to. They are the floor a handbook has to clear, not the whole of it.

  1. Verified

    Harassment & violence

    Every Ontario employer must keep written workplace harassment and workplace violence policies, backed by programs that put them into action, and must review them at least once a year. Workers have to be trained on what the policies actually say.

    OHSA, ss. 32.0.1–32.0.5 Occupational Health and Safety Act (Ontario)

    OHSA violence & harassment policies ›

  2. Verified

    Disconnecting & monitoring

    Once you reach 25 or more employees on January 1, the ESA requires a written policy on disconnecting from work and a written policy on electronic monitoring. Both must be in place by March 1 and given to every employee.

    ESA, 2000, ss. 21.1.1–21.1.2, 41.1.1 Employment Standards Act, 2000 (Ontario)

    ESA written-policy duties ›

  3. Verified

    Accessibility

    Under the AODA’s accessibility standards, every organization that provides goods, services or facilities to the public (or other third parties) and has at least one Ontario employee must keep written accessibility policies, with no exemption for small employers. Once one of those organizations has 50 or more employees, it must also document and post a multi-year accessibility plan.

    O. Reg. 191/11, ss. 1–5 Integrated Accessibility Standards / AODA (Ontario)

    AODA accessibility policies & plans ›

General information about Ontario law, not legal advice.

A policy you won’t follow is worse than no policy at all. Skip the steps in your own handbook and a court can hold you to them anyway — then refuse to let you rely on the very conduct you were disciplining.
Frank Newman

What compliance takes

Five ways a policy you already have still fails you

Most employers who get into trouble do have policies. The risk sits less in the document than in whether it fits Ontario law, whether anyone was told, whether it matches the contract, whether it’s current, and whether you actually follow it. Each one below is a policy that exists on paper and does not hold.

  1. The template that doesn’t fit Ontario

    A handbook bought off the shelf, or borrowed from a parent company in another province, looks complete. But employment law is provincial, and you can’t contract out of Ontario’s Employment Standards Act. A clause built for somewhere else can quietly sit below the floor.

    No contracting out of the ESA ›

    Where it goes wrong A term that gives an employee less than the ESA minimum is simply void. The rest of the handbook doesn’t save it, and a court reads the minimum back in.

  2. A policy nobody was ever shown

    An unread policy in a shared drive isn’t communication. The OHSA requires you to train workers on the harassment and violence policies. A handbook only works as evidence when it’s paired with a signed acknowledgement that staff were told the rules.

    The OHSA’s training duty ›

    Where it goes wrong If you can’t show the employee knew the rule, you can’t fairly discipline them for breaking it.

  3. A handbook that contradicts the contract

    Your handbook says one thing. The employment agreement or the ESA says another. The conflict doesn’t stay hidden, and it surfaces at the worst possible moment, usually in a termination.

    The ESA floor and conflicting terms ›

    Where it goes wrong You don’t get to pick which one applies. Only the term that gives the employee more than the minimum wins. A void clause can poison an otherwise valid termination provision and reopen what you thought was settled.

  4. A policy that never kept up with the law

    Policies age. Ontario added the disconnecting-from-work and electronic-monitoring policies to the list, and the rules under the ones you already have keep moving too. The OHSA wants the harassment and violence policies reviewed at least once a year, and the ESA headcount that triggers the disconnecting and monitoring policies resets every January 1.

    Maintaining your policies ›

    Where it goes wrong A policy that quotes a repealed rule, or misses a new obligation, is worse than silence, because it is documented proof you turned your mind to the duty and got it wrong.

  5. A rule you enforce when it suits you

    Applying a policy to one person and not another is the fastest way to lose its protection. The Ontario Human Rights Commission’s position is that similar problems should attract similar discipline. Enforce a rule selectively and whether it applies comes down to who happens to see it broken, which you don’t get to choose.

    Consistency and documentation that holds up ›

    Where it goes wrong Inconsistent enforcement reads as discrimination to a tribunal and as condonation to a court. Ignore your own progressive-discipline steps and you may not be able to rely on the misconduct at all.

What a full HR policy set covers, end to end ›

Verified

The floor you can’t move

You can’t contract out of the Employment Standards Act. Any term that gives an employee less than the ESA minimum is void. Only a term that gives more overrides it.

ESA, 2000, ss. 1–8 Employment Standards Act, 2000 (Ontario)

No contracting out of the ESA ›
Article Is your disengagement policy ready in time for Bill 27? Have your policies reviewed Book a policy review

A real decision

Template handbook, or a custom policy set?

A template gets you a document fast and cheap. Whether that’s enough comes down to how close it sits to Ontario law and how you actually run.

Start from a template

When it fits

  • You’re a straightforward, Ontario-only employer and need a baseline in place quickly.
  • You’ll treat it as a first draft and edit every clause to fit Ontario law.
  • Someone will check it against the ESA floor so no clause drops below the minimum.
  • You can realistically follow every step it commits you to.

Build a custom policy set

When it fits

  • You have remote or out-of-province staff, a union, or any real complexity.
  • You’re at or past the 25-employee line, so the ESA’s written policies are now mandatory.
  • Your real practice differs from the boilerplate, so you need policies you’ll actually apply.
  • You want a handbook that helps you in a dispute.

Whichever you choose, a policy only protects you if it fits Ontario law and you follow it. What HR policy development covers ›

Before you draft

Employers ask us these six questions

Which HR policies are legally required in Ontario?

A handful. Every employer needs written workplace harassment and workplace violence policies under the OHSA, no matter how few people it employs. Once you hit 25 employees, the ESA adds written disconnecting-from-work and electronic-monitoring policies. Any organization that serves the public (or other third parties) and has at least one Ontario employee owes written accessibility policies under the AODA. Most of the rest of a handbook is good practice, not law.

The OHSA’s two mandatory policies ›

Is an employee handbook mandatory?

No, Canadian law does not require a handbook as such. What the law requires is several specific policies that usually live inside one. A handbook is still worth having. Paired with a signed acknowledgement, it’s your evidence that staff were told the rules and the consequences of breaking them.

HR policy development & the handbook ›

What happens if we don’t follow our own policy?

It can be turned against you. Ontario courts have held that an employer who writes a progressive-discipline process into its handbook and then skips it can’t rely on the misconduct it was disciplining. A policy you apply inconsistently weakens your position.

Progressive discipline, and Gordon v. Altus ›

How often should we review our policies?

On two clocks. Set a regular cycle, and every two to three years is the common cadence. Review immediately whenever the law changes. Some of the timing is fixed by statute. The OHSA wants the harassment and violence policies looked at at least once a year. The ESA headcount that triggers the disconnecting and monitoring policies resets every January 1.

Maintaining your policies ›

Do we have to do better than the ESA minimums?

No. The ESA is a floor you can’t contract below. Any clause that gives an employee less than the minimum is void, while a term that gives more is fine. Going beyond the minimum is a retention and culture choice, not a legal duty. Matching the floor exactly is the lowest a policy is allowed to go.

The ESA floor and no contracting out ›

Can we just use a template handbook?

Yes as a starting point, provided you don’t treat it as finished. Employment law is provincial, so a template built elsewhere can leave Ontario gaps. A clause that drops below the ESA floor is void. The bigger risk is adopting commitments you won’t keep, because a court holds you to what you wrote. Use a template to draft faster, then make every clause fit Ontario law and how you actually run.

Template vs. custom, done right ›

The knowledge base

Read the notes behind this page

  1. What is HR policy development / an employee handbook, and what does it cover?

    Read the note ›

  2. Workplace Violence: Policies, Risk Assessment and Program

    Read the note ›

  3. Workplace Harassment: Program, Investigation and Training

    Read the note ›

  4. Written Policy on Disconnecting from Work (25+ Employees)

    Read the note ›

  5. Electronic Monitoring Policy (25+ Employees)

    Read the note ›

  6. Accessibility Policies, Multi-Year Plans, and Procurement

    Read the note ›

Next step

Not sure your policies would survive a closer look?

Most handbooks are fine until the day they’re tested. If you’ve inherited a template, haven’t reviewed in a few years, or just want to know what Ontario actually requires of you, let’s go through what you have and what’s missing.

Book a policy review Or call 519-362-8352