Your Employer's Responsibilities

What are my employer's responsibilities to me?

Direct Funding Program participants are called “Self-Managers” and are employers in every sense of the word. They are capable of understanding and carrying out the responsibilities as an employer of one or more attendant workers.

As employers in the province of Ontario, participants on the Direct Funding Program are obliged to follow all provincial employment laws and regulations, including the Employment Standards Act, the Occupational Health and Safety Act and the Human Rights Code. The Direct Funding Agreement also requires participants to provide a safe workplace and to register with the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board, ensuring that employees have loss of earnings benefits and health care coverage if they are injured on the job.

Additionally, your employer is obliged to add all attendant employees to his/her payroll; you will be asked to complete a TD1 and TD1ON form so your employer and bookkeeper will be able to take the appropriate deductions (income tax, Canadian Pension Plan and Employment Insurance) from your paycheque and remit them to the Canada Revenue Agency. All payments on the Direct Funding Program, including payroll, are to be made by cheque (no cash payments). Payroll is every two weeks. Please see the schedule for Attendant Payroll Dates. Employers must keep a record of all hours worked and will provide a T4 to employees at the end of the year.

Most employers, or self-managers, will ask their employees to sign an employment contract which sets out the responsibilities of both parties.

As an attendant, you will also be paid for public holidays. For more information on public holidays, please see the Ontario Ministry of Labour website.

Most self-mangers on the Direct Funding Program pay their staff vacation pay with every paycheque. This way vacation pay is always up to date.

Your employer is obligated to provide you with a Record of Employment within five days if your earnings are interrupted because you are laid off, terminated or you have resigned. All training is provided directly by the employer or the employer may ask a trained attendant to demonstrate certain routines.

Direct Funding staff at any of the Independent Living Centres across the province generally do not interfere in the employer/employee relationship. We encourage all attendants to speak to their employers with any questions or concerns.

If you have questions about Direct Funding, you may contact program staff.

Return to Employment Opportunities

Continue to Payroll Dates