What is the difference between exempt and non-exempt employees for overtime purposes under Ontario's ESA?

Under the Employment Standards Act, 2000, most employees are "non-exempt," meaning the Act's overtime rules apply to them in the ordinary way once their weekly hours cross the statutory threshold. "Exempt" employees are those whose specific role falls within a category the Act's regulations carve out from overtime entitlement, such as certain categories of managers or supervisors who genuinely, in substance, perform management or supervisory functions as the core of their job, rather than performing largely the same hands-on work as the people they supposedly oversee.

The key point is that exemption status turns on the actual nature of the work being done, assessed against the specific wording of the exemption in question, not on job title, pay structure, or how the employer describes the role in an offer letter. Two employees with the same title at different companies, or even within the same company, can land on different sides of the exemption depending on what they actually do day to day.

Because misclassifying a non-exempt employee as exempt is a common and expensive mistake, exposing an employer to significant back overtime pay, employers should have genuinely uncertain roles assessed carefully rather than assuming a title or salary settles the question.