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

Marginal note:Determination of number of employees — private sector and territorial governments

9 For the purpose of sections 6 and 7

• (a) an employer referred to in any of paragraphs 3(2)(e) to (i) is considered to have 10 to 99 employees if

  • (i) the average of the number of the employer’s employees in the calendar year immediately before the calendar year in which this section comes into force is at least 10 but less than 100, or

  • (ii) the average of the number of the employer’s employees in the calendar year in which this section comes into force or in any subsequent calendar year is at least 10 but less than 100; and

• (b) an employer referred to in any of paragraphs 3(2)(e) to (i) is considered to have 100 or more employees if

  • (i) the average of the number of the employer’s employees in the calendar year immediately before the calendar year in which this section comes into force is 100 or more, or

  • (ii) the average of the number of the employer’s employees in the calendar year in which this section comes into force or in any subsequent calendar year is 100 or more.

Marginal note:Exemption

10 The governments of Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut are exempt from the application of this Act until the date that the Governor in Council may, by order, specify in respect of that government.

Marginal note:Exemption

• 11 (1) Indigenous governing bodies that are employers are exempt from the application of this Act until the date that the Governor in Council may, by order, specify.

• Marginal note:Definition of Indigenous governing body

  (2) In this section, Indigenous governing body means a council, government or other entity that is authorized to act on behalf of an Indigenous group, community or people that holds rights recognized and affirmed by section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982.

PART 1Pay Equity Plan

Marginal note:Requirement to establish plan

12 Every employer must establish a pay equity plan in accordance with this Act in respect of its employees.

Marginal note:Requirement to establish plan — group of employers

13 Every group of employers must establish a pay equity plan in accordance with this Act in respect of the employees of the employers in the group.

Marginal note:Notice — employers referred to in subsection 16(1)

• 14 (1) An employer referred to in subsection 16(1) must post a notice

  • (a) setting out its obligation

    • (i) to establish a pay equity plan, and

    • (ii) to make all reasonable efforts to establish a pay equity committee for that purpose;

  • (b) setting out the requirements for the committee’s membership;

  • (c) informing its non-unionized employees, if any, of their right to designate the committee members who will represent them; and

  • (d) informing its unionized employees, if any, that their bargaining agent will select the committee members who will represent the employees who are members of any bargaining unit represented by that bargaining agent.

• Marginal note:Notice — employers referred to in subsection 16(2)

  (2) An employer referred to in subsection 16(2) must post a notice

  • (a) setting out its obligation to establish a pay equity plan; and

  • (b) if it has decided to establish a pay equity committee,

    • (i) setting out the requirements for the committee’s membership, and

    • (ii) informing its employees of their right to designate the committee members who will represent them.

Marginal note:Notice — group of employers referred to in subsection 17(1)

• 15 (1) Each employer that is in a group of employers referred to in subsection 17(1) must post a notice

  • (a) indicating that it is in a group of employers;

  • (b) setting out the group’s obligation

    • (i) to establish a pay equity plan, and

    • (ii) to make all reasonable efforts to establish a pay equity committee for that purpose;

  • (c) setting out the requirements for the committee’s membership;

  • (d) informing the employer’s non-unionized employees, if any, of their right to designate the committee members who will represent the non-unionized employees of all of the employers in the group of employers; and

  • (e) informing the employer’s unionized employees, if any, that their bargaining agent will select the committee members who will represent the employees — of all of the employers in the group of employers — who are members of any bargaining unit represented by that bargaining agent.

• Marginal note:Notice — group of employers referred to in subsection 17(2)

  (2) Each employer that is in a group of employers referred to in subsection 17(2) must post a notice

  • (a) indicating that it is in a group of employers;

  • (b) setting out the group’s obligation to establish a pay equity plan; and

  • (c) if the group has decided to establish a pay equity committee,

    • (i) setting out the requirements for the committee’s membership, and

    • (ii) informing the employer’s employees of their right to designate the committee members who will represent the employees of all of the employers in the group of employers.

Marginal note:Requirement to establish pay equity committee

• 16 (1) The following employers must, in respect of the pay equity plan that the employer is required to establish, make all reasonable efforts to establish a pay equity committee:

  • (a) an employer that is considered to have 100 or more employees for the purpose of section 6 or 7, as the case may be; or

  • (b) an employer that is considered to have 10 to 99 employees for the purpose of section 6 or 7, as the case may be, if some or all of its employees were unionized employees on the date on which the employer became subject to this Act.

• Marginal note:Voluntary establishment of pay equity committee

  (2) An employer that is considered to have 10 to 99 employees for the purpose of section 6 or 7, as the case may be, may, on its own initiative or at the request of an employee, decide to establish a pay equity committee if all of its employees were non-unionized employees on the date on which the employer became subject to this Act.

• Marginal note:Notice to Pay Equity Commissioner

  (3) An employer referred to in subsection (2) that establishes a pay equity committee must notify the Pay Equity Commissioner that it has done so.

Marginal note:Requirement to establish pay equity committee — group of employers

• 17 (1) The following groups of employers must, in respect of the pay equity plan that the group is required to establish, make all reasonable efforts to establish a pay equity committee:

  • (a) a group of employers that is considered under section 18 to have 100 or more employees; or

  • (b) a group of employers that is considered under section 18 to have 10 to 99 employees, if at least one of the employers in the group had unionized employees on the date on which it became subject to this Act.

• Marginal note:Voluntary establishment of pay equity committee

  (2) A group of employers that is considered under section 18 to have 10 to 99 employees, may, on its own initiative or at the request of an employee, decide to establish a pay equity committee if each of the employers in the group had only non-unionized employees on the date on which it became subject to this Act.

• Marginal note:Notice to Pay Equity Commissioner

  (3) A group of employers referred to in subsection (2) that establishes a pay equity committee must notify the Pay Equity Commissioner that it has done so.

Marginal note:Number of employees — group of employers

18 For the purpose of section 17,

• (a) a group of employers is considered to have 100 or more employees if the sum of the average of the number of employees of each of the employers in the group — that average, for each of those employers, being the average of the number described in paragraph 9(a) or (b) that determined the date on which the employer became subject to this Act — is 100 or more; and

• (b) a group of employers is considered to have 10 to 99 employees if the sum of the average of the number of employees of each of the employers in the group — that average, for each of those employers, being the average of the number described in paragraph 9(a) that determined the date on which the employer became subject to this Act — is at least 10 but less than 100.

Marginal note:Composition of committee

• 19 (1) A pay equity committee is to be composed of at least three members and must also meet the following requirements:

  • (a) at least two-thirds of the members must represent the employees to whom the pay equity plan relates;

  • (b) at least 50% of the members must be women;

  • (c) at least one member must be a person selected by the employer to represent it;

  • (d) if some or all of the employees to whom the pay equity plan relates are unionized employees, there must be at least the same number of members to represent those employees as there are bargaining agents, with each bargaining agent selecting at least one person to be a member and to represent employees who are members of any bargaining unit represented by that bargaining agent; and

  • (e) if some or all of the employees to whom the pay equity plan relates are non-unionized employees, at least one member must be a person selected by those employees to represent them.

• Marginal note:Non-unionized employees

  (2) Non-unionized employees must select members to represent them by a majority of votes.

• Marginal note:Committee cannot be established

  (3) If the employer is unable to establish a pay equity committee that meets the requirements set out in any of paragraphs (1)(a), (b), (d) and (e), it must apply to the Pay Equity Commissioner for authorization to establish a committee with different requirements than the ones set out in that paragraph.

Marginal note:Vote

• 20 (1) The members who represent employees have, as a group, one vote and the members who represent the employer have, as a group, one vote. A decision of a group counts as a vote only if it is unanimous. If the members who represent employees cannot, as a group, reach a unanimous decision on a matter, that group forfeits its right to vote and the vote of the group of members who represent the employer prevails.

• Marginal note:Minimum composition required for vote

  (2) The pay equity committee may hold a vote only if there is present for it

  • (a) at least one member who represents the employer;

  • (b) for each bargaining agent, if any, that selected members, at least one such member; and

  • (c) one member who represents non-unionized employees, if any.

Marginal note:Directions from employer

• 21 (1) An employer must give to any member of a pay equity committee who represents the employer sufficient direction to permit the member to perform their work as the employer’s representative on the committee.

• Marginal note:Directions from bargaining agent

  (2) A bargaining agent must give to any member of a pay equity committee who represents employees who are members of any bargaining unit represented by the bargaining agent sufficient direction to permit the member to perform their work as those employees’ representative on the committee.

Marginal note:Measures to facilitate the selection of members

• 22 (1) To facilitate the selection of employee representatives on a pay equity committee, an employer must make available, as necessary, its premises and equipment and must permit its employees to take time away from their work, as required, to participate in the selection process.

• Marginal note:Measures to support work of committee

  (2) Once the pay equity committee is established, the employer must make available, as necessary, its premises and equipment for the work of the committee and must permit employees who are members of the committee to take time away from their work, as required, to participate in training sessions and meetings of the committee and to perform their work as a member of the committee.

• Marginal note:Employee deemed at work

  (3) An employee who takes time away from their work in accordance with subsection (1) or (2) is deemed to be at work for all purposes.

Marginal note:Requirement to provide information — employer

• 23 (1) An employer must provide the pay equity committee with any information in the employer’s possession that the committee considers necessary for the establishment of the pay equity plan.

• Marginal note:Requirement to provide information — employees and bargaining agents

  (2) Every employee to whom the pay equity plan relates and, if some of those employees are unionized employees, every bargaining agent that represents those unionized employees, must provide the pay equity committee with any information within their knowledge or control that the committee considers necessary for the establishment of the pay equity plan.

Marginal note:Requirement to keep information confidential — committee members

• 24 (1) Each person who is or was a member of a pay equity committee to which information is provided in accordance with section 23 must keep confidential — except for the purpose for which it is provided — any of the information that is specified by the employer, employee or bargaining agent, as the case may be, as being confidential.

• Marginal note:Employers and bargaining agents

  (2) Each employer and each bargaining agent that receives, from a member of a pay equity committee, information that the member is required under subsection (1) to keep confidential, must also keep the information confidential.

Marginal note:Notice of establishment of plan without committee

25 If an employer, despite having made all reasonable efforts, is unable to establish a pay equity committee, the employer must apply to the Pay Equity Commissioner for authorization to establish the pay equity plan without a pay equity committee. If that authorization is granted, the employer must post a notice informing the employees to whom the pay equity plan relates that the employer will establish the pay equity plan without a pay equity committee.

Marginal note:Notice of establishment of plan without committee — group of employers

26 If a group of employers, despite having made all reasonable efforts, is unable to establish a pay equity committee, the group must apply to the Pay Equity Commissioner for authorization to establish the pay equity plan without a committee. If that authorization is granted, each employer in the group must post a notice informing its employees to whom the pay equity plan relates that the group of employers will establish the pay equity plan without a committee.

Marginal note:Committee does not meet requirement after establishment

27 If a pay equity committee established by an employer does not, at any time after it has been established, meet the requirements set out in any of paragraphs 19(1)(a), (b), (d) and (e), the employer must apply to the Pay Equity Commissioner for authorization for the continuation of the committee with different requirements than the ones set out in that paragraph.