Pay Equity Act (S.C. 2018, c. 27, s. 416)

Marginal note:Provision of information or advice

114 The Pay Equity Commissioner may — or, if requested to do so by the Minister, must — provide the Minister with information or advice in respect of systemic or emerging pay equity issues.

Marginal note:Special reports

• 115 (1) The Pay Equity Commissioner may — or, if requested to do so by the Minister, must — prepare a report to the Senate and the House of Commons in respect of issues arising from the administration and enforcement of this Act or in respect of systemic or emerging pay equity issues.

• Marginal note:Transmission of special reports

  (2) As soon as feasible, but in any case within three months after the end of the fiscal year in which the report is prepared, the Pay Equity Commissioner must cause the report to be transmitted to the Speaker of the Senate and to the Speaker of the House of Commons for tabling in those Houses and provide the Minister and the Minister of Justice with a copy of the report.

Marginal note:Provision of data to Minister

116 The Pay Equity Commissioner must provide the Minister, on the request of and in the form specified by the Minister, with any data that the Minister requires to evaluate whether the purpose of the Act is being met.

Marginal note:Annual report

• 117 (1) The Pay Equity Commissioner must prepare an annual report to the Senate and the House of Commons on the administration and enforcement of this Act. The report may include information on systemic or emerging pay equity issues.

• Marginal note:Transmission of report and copy

  (2) Within three months after the end of each fiscal year, the Pay Equity Commissioner must cause the report to be transmitted to the Speaker of the Senate and to the Speaker of the House of Commons for tabling in those Houses and provide the Minister and the Minister of Justice with a copy of the report.

Marginal note:Compliance audit

• 118 (1) The Pay Equity Commissioner may, for a purpose related to verifying compliance or preventing non-compliance with this Act or the regulations, conduct a compliance audit of any employer or bargaining agent on whom this Act imposes an obligation.

• Marginal note:Notification

  (2) The Pay Equity Commissioner must notify the employer or bargaining agent to be audited that he or she will commence a compliance audit.

• Marginal note:Powers

  (3) The Pay Equity Commissioner may, for the purpose of conducting a compliance audit,

  • (a) enter any place — including a conveyance — other than a dwelling-house, in which he or she has reasonable grounds to believe there is any record, report, electronic data or other document, or any information or thing, relevant to that purpose;

  • (b) examine any record, report, electronic data or other document or thing that is found in the place and make copies of it or take extracts from it;

  • (c) use or cause to be used any computer system at the place to examine any electronic data referred to in paragraph (b);

  • (d) reproduce any document from any electronic data referred to in paragraph (b), or cause it to be reproduced, in the form of a printout or other output;

  • (e) take the record, report or other document referred to in paragraph (b) or the printout or other output referred to in paragraph (d) for examination or copying;

  • (f) use or cause to be used any copying equipment at the place to make copies of any document; and

  • (g) order any person in the place to establish their identity to the Pay Equity Commissioner’s satisfaction, or to the satisfaction of the Pay Equity Commissioner’s delegate, as the case may be.

• Marginal note:Production of document or data

  (4) The Pay Equity Commissioner may make an order in writing requiring an employer or bargaining agent to produce for examination or reproduction all or part of any record, report, electronic data or other document that the Pay Equity Commissioner believes on reasonable grounds contain any information relevant to the purpose of conducting a compliance audit.

• Marginal note:Copies

  (5) The Pay Equity Commissioner may

  • (a) make copies or take extracts from the record, report, electronic data or other document produced under an order made under subsection (4); and

  • (b) reproduce any document from such electronic data, or cause it to be reproduced, in the form of a printout or other output.

• Marginal note:Additional powers

  (6) If, in the course of exercising the powers set out in subsection (3), the Pay Equity Commissioner identifies an issue that, in his or her opinion, requires investigation, he or she may exercise the powers set out in paragraphs 121(a) to (e).

• Marginal note:Completion of compliance audit

  (7) On completion of a compliance audit, the Pay Equity Commissioner may

  • (a) identify measures that the employer or bargaining agent is to take to remedy a non-compliance issue, and give notice, in writing, of those measures and the time within which they are to be taken to the employer or bargaining agent; or

  • (b) if he or she does not identify measures under subsection (a), issue an order under section 119.

• Marginal note:Order — failure to take measures

  (8) If the Pay Equity Commissioner is satisfied that the employer or bargaining agent, as the case may be, has not taken the measures identified in a notice under paragraph (7)(a) within the time specified in the notice, he or she may issue an order under section 119.

Marginal note:Power to order termination of contravention

119 If the Pay Equity Commissioner has reasonable grounds to believe that an employer, employee or bargaining agent is contravening or has contravened a provision of this Act or the regulations, or an order of the Pay Equity Commissioner or the Tribunal issued under this Act, he or she may, subject to subsections 118(7) and (8), make an order in writing requiring the employer, employee or bargaining agent to terminate the contravention within the time specified in the order or to take any measures specified in the order, within the time specified in the order, to ensure that the contravention does not continue or reoccur. The order must specify the time within which and the manner in which it may be appealed.

Marginal note:Internal audit order

• 120 (1) Subject to the regulations, the Pay Equity Commissioner may, in writing, for a purpose related to verifying compliance or preventing non-compliance with this Act, order an employer to

  • (a) conduct an internal audit of its practices and records, reports, electronic data or other documents to determine whether the employer is in compliance with any provision of this Act or the regulations; and

  • (b) provide a report of the results of the audit to the Pay Equity Commissioner.

• Marginal note:Contents of order

  (2) The Pay Equity Commissioner must, in the internal audit order, specify

  • (a) the employer to which it applies;

  • (b) the period of time to be covered by the internal audit;

  • (c) the provisions of this Act or the regulations with respect to which the internal audit is being ordered;

  • (d) the date by which the employer is to provide the report; and

  • (e) the form of the report.

• Marginal note:Information to include in report

  (3) The Pay Equity Commissioner may also specify in the order that the report is to contain any information specified in the order that he or she considers appropriate.

• Marginal note:Report — non-compliance

  (4) If the employer determines that it has not complied with any provision referred to in the order, the employer must set out in the report the nature of the employer’s non-compliance and the measures that have been or will be taken by the employer to comply with the provision.

• Marginal note:Compliance audit not precluded

  (5) For greater certainty, nothing in this section precludes the Pay Equity Commissioner from conducting a compliance audit under section 118.

Marginal note:Powers — investigation or application

121 In the conduct of an investigation under this Act or the consideration of an application submitted under this Act, the Pay Equity Commissioner may

• (a) summon and enforce the appearance of persons before the Pay Equity Commissioner and compel them to give oral or written evidence on oath and to produce any record, report, electronic data or other document, or any information or thing, that the Pay Equity Commissioner considers necessary, in the same manner and to the same extent as a superior court of record;

• (b) administer oaths;

• (c) receive and accept any evidence and other information, whether on oath, by affidavit or otherwise, that the Pay Equity Commissioner sees fit, whether or not it is or would be admissible in a court of law;

• (d) enter any place — including a conveyance — other than a dwelling-house;

• (e) converse in private with any person in any place entered under paragraph (d) and otherwise carry out in that place any inquiries that the Pay Equity Commissioner sees fit; and

• (f) exercise any of the powers referred to in any of paragraphs 118(3)(b) to (g).