5. Prepare for your hearing

The Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) will send you a Notice of Hearing with the date, time, and place for the hearing.

Collect your evidence

At the hearing, the OLRB uses evidence to make a decision about your application. The information in your application is not evidence.

You must have evidence at your hearing to prove that:

• your employer acted in a way that goes against your Employment Standards Act (ESA) rights, and
• this caused you to lose money or be hurt in other ways.

Your evidence can be:

• your own testimony
• witnesses who say what they know about events that happened or how those events affected you
• documents, for example, letters or emails from your employer

You can also have other types of evidence. For example, you might have photographs, videos, or audio recordings that help prove your claim. The person who took the photograph or made the recording must come to the hearing.

Follow the rules about evidence

The OLRB has detailed rules about evidence. If you don't follow these rules, the OLRB can refuse to look at your evidence or reject your application without even having a hearing.

For example, one rule is that you must give copies of all your evidence to your employer, the OLRB, and anyone else involved in the hearing at least 10 days before your hearing or consultation date.

Another rule is that you must include a table of contents that briefly describes each piece of evidence, and you must number each page of your documents.

Getting a decision

Usually, the OLRB makes a decision after the hearing. They will send you the written decision in the mail.

The OLRB decision is usually final. If you disagree with the decision, you might be able to ask the OLRB to “reconsider”. Or you might be able to ask Ontario's Divisional Court to review it.

You can get legal help to find out if there's anything else you can do.