Are Ontario employers required to post the ESA poster in the workplace?

Yes. Ontario employers covered by the Employment Standards Act, 2000 are generally required to display the government's official poster explaining employee rights under the Act in the workplace, somewhere employees will actually see it, such as a break room or common area. On top of posting it, employers are also generally required to give each employee their own copy, most commonly when they start employment.

This requirement exists so employees have easy access to accurate information about their basic rights, rather than depending entirely on their employer to explain the rules or on employees seeking out the information themselves. It's a simple compliance step, but it's one that's easy to overlook, particularly for a newer or smaller business that hasn't set up a full onboarding process yet, or a workplace that has moved locations without updating its postings.

Employers should also keep in mind that beyond this specific poster, other workplace posting requirements exist under separate legislation, such as health and safety and workers' compensation postings, which are distinct obligations layered on top of the ESA requirement rather than satisfied by it. Checking that all required postings, not just the ESA one, are current and visible is worth doing periodically.