Parliamentary Employment and Staff Relations Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. 33 (2nd Supp.))

DIVISION VGeneral

Review of Decisions

Marginal note:No review by court

• 72 (1) Except as provided in this Part, every award or decision of an arbitrator appointed under section 49 or an adjudicator is final and shall not be questioned or reviewed in any court.

• Marginal note:No review by injunction, etc.

  (2) No order shall be made or process entered, or proceedings taken in any court, whether by way of injunction, certiorari, prohibition, quo warranto or otherwise, to question, review, prohibit or restrain an arbitrator appointed under section 49 or an adjudicator in any of the proceedings of the arbitrator or adjudicator.

Offences relating to Strikes

Marginal note:Participation by employee in strike

73 No employee shall participate in a strike.

Marginal note:Declaration or authorization of strike

74 No employee organization shall declare or authorize a strike of employees and no officer or representative of an employee organization shall counsel or procure the declaration or authorization of a strike of employees or the participation of employees in a strike, the effect of which is or would be to involve the participation of an employee in a strike in contravention of section 73.

Marginal note:Offences and punishment; employee

• 75 (1) Every employee who contravenes section 73 is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars.

• Marginal note:Idem; officer or representative

  (2) Every officer or representative of an employee organization who contravenes section 74 is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding three hundred dollars.

• Marginal note:Idem; employee organization

  (3) Every employee organization that contravenes section 74 is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding one hundred and fifty dollars for each day that any strike declared or authorized by it in contravention of that section is or continues in effect.

Marginal note:Prosecution of employee organization

76 A prosecution for an offence referred to in section 75 may be brought against an employee organization and in the name of that organization, and for the purposes of any such prosecution an employee organization shall be deemed to be a person and any act or thing done or omitted by an officer or representative of an employee organization within the scope of his authority to act on behalf of the employee organization shall be deemed to be an act or thing done or omitted by the employee organization.

Consent to Prosecution

Marginal note:Consent

77 No prosecution arising out of an alleged failure by any person to observe any prohibition contained in section 6, 7 or 8 and no prosecution for an offence referred to in section 75 shall be instituted except with the consent of the Board.

Protection

Marginal note:Evidence respecting information obtained

78 No adjudicator, conciliator or person appointed by the Board and no arbitrator appointed under section 49 shall be required to give evidence in any civil action, suit or other proceeding respecting information obtained in the discharge of his or her duties under this Part.

Witness Fees

Marginal note:Payment of witness fees

79 A person who is summoned by the Board or an arbitrator appointed under section 49 to attend as a witness in any proceedings thereof taken pursuant to this Part and who so attends is entitled to be paid an allowance for expenses determined in accordance with the scale for the time being in force with respect to witnesses in civil suits in the superior court of the province in which the proceedings are being taken.

Oaths and Solemn Affirmations

Marginal note:Oath or solemn affirmation to be taken

80 A person appointed under this Part shall, before entering on his duties, take an oath or solemn affirmation in the form prescribed in the schedule before any person authorized by the Governor in Council to take the oath or solemn affirmation.

Provision of Facilities and Staff

Marginal note:Facilities and staff

81 The Chief Administrator of the Administrative Tribunals Support Service of Canada shall provide an arbitrator appointed under section 49 and an adjudicator with the staff, the quarters and the other facilities that are necessary to enable the arbitrator or adjudicator to carry out their respective functions under this Part.

Superannuation

Marginal note:Application of Public Service Superannuation Act

82 Unless the Governor in Council otherwise orders in any case or class of cases, a person appointed under this Part shall be deemed not to be employed in the public service for the purposes of the Public Service Superannuation Act.

83 [Repealed, 2014, c. 20, s. 481]

Report to Parliament

Marginal note:Annual report

84 As soon as possible after the end of each year, the Board shall prepare a report on the administration of this Part during that year and shall cause the report to be laid before each House of Parliament on any of the first fifteen days on which that House sits after the report has been prepared.

PART IIStandard Hours, Wages, Leave, Etc.

Interpretation

Canada Labour Code (Part III)

PART II.1Pay Equity

Marginal note:Definitions

86.1 The following definitions apply in this Part.

bargaining agent

bargaining agent has the same meaning as in section 3. (agent négociateur)

Board

Board has the same meaning as in section 3. (Commission)

employee

employee means a person employed by an employer and includes the person occupying the recognized position of Clerk of the Senate, Clerk of the House of Commons, Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod, Sergeant-at-Arms or Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel of the House of Commons. (employé)

employer

employer means

• (a) the Senate as represented by any committee or person that the Senate by its rules or orders designates for the purposes of this Part;

• (b) the House of Commons as represented by any committee or person that the House of Commons by its orders designates for the purposes of this Part;

• (c) the Library of Parliament as represented by the Parliamentary Librarian acting, subject to subsection 74(1) of the Parliament of Canada Act, on behalf of both Houses of Parliament;

• (d) the office of the Senate Ethics Officer as represented by the Senate Ethics Officer;

• (e) the office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner as represented by the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner;

• (f) the Parliamentary Protective Service as represented by the Director of the Parliamentary Protective Service on behalf of the Speakers of the two Houses of Parliament;

• (g) the office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer as represented by the Parliamentary Budget Officer;

• (h) a member of the House of Commons who employs one or more persons or who has the direction or control of staff employed to provide research or associated services to the caucus members of a political party represented in the House of Commons;

• (i) in the case of a person occupying the recognized position of Clerk of the Senate, Clerk of the House of Commons, Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod, Sergeant-at-Arms or Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel of the House of Commons, the Senate or the House of Commons, as the case may be, as represented by the committee or person described in paragraph (a) or (b); or

• (j) any other person who is recognized as an employer in regulations made under subsection 19.5(1) of the Parliament of Canada Act or by-laws made under section 52.5 of that Act. (employeur)

Pay Equity Commissioner

Pay Equity Commissioner means the Pay Equity Commissioner appointed under subsection 26(1) of the Canadian Human Rights Act. (Commissaire à l’équité salariale)

Marginal note:Powers, privileges and immunities

86.2 For greater certainty, nothing in this Part is to be construed as limiting in any way the powers, privileges and immunities of the Senate and the House of Commons and their members or as authorizing the exercise of a power or the performance of a function or duty by virtue of this Part if the exercise of that power or the performance of that function or duty would interfere, directly or indirectly, with the business of the Senate or the House of Commons.

Marginal note:Application — Pay Equity Act

• 86.3 (1) The Pay Equity Act, other than sections 125 to 127, 129, 130, 132, 134, 137 to 146 and 180, applies with respect to the employer, in the same manner and to the same extent as if the employer were an employer referred to in paragraph 3(2)(a) of that Act except that, for the purpose of that application,

  • (a) any reference in that Act to

    • (i) bargaining agent, employee or employer is to be read as a reference to that expression as defined in section 86.1 of this Act,

    • (ii) “Tribunal” is to be read as a reference to the Board as defined in section 3 of this Act, and

    • (iii) “violation” is to be read as a reference to a “contravention”;

  • (b) Part I of this Act applies, with any modifications that the circumstances require, in respect of matters brought before the Board under the Pay Equity Act to the extent necessary to give effect to that purpose; and

  • (c) matters brought before the Board under the Pay Equity Act may be heard and determined only by a member as defined in section 3 of this Act.

• Marginal note:Record keeping

  (2) Despite subsection (1), sections 90 and 91 of the Pay Equity Act apply with respect to an employer, in the same manner and to the same extent as if the employer were an employer referred to in paragraph 3(2)(e) of that Act except that, for the purpose of that application, any reference to employer in those sections is to be read as a reference to that term as defined in section 86.1 of this Act.

Marginal note:Application of regulations

• 86.4 (1) Regulations made under subsection 181(1) or section 182 of the Pay Equity Act apply with respect to an employer, in the same manner and to the same extent as if the employer were an employer referred to in paragraph 3(2)(a) of that Act, but only to the extent that the regulations apply generally to employers that are referred to in that paragraph and subject to the modifications referred to in subparagraph 86.3(1)(a)(i) of this Act.

• Marginal note:Record keeping

  (2) Regulations made for the purpose of section 90 of the Pay Equity Act apply with respect to an employer, in the same manner and to the same extent as if the employer were an employer referred to in paragraph 3(2)(e) of that Act, but only to the extent that the regulations apply generally to employers that are referred to in that paragraph and subject to the modification referred to in subsection 86.3(2) of this Act.

Marginal note:Contravention

• 86.5 (1) The Pay Equity Commissioner may issue a notice of contravention to an employer, bargaining agent or other person, and must cause them to be served with the notice, if the Pay Equity Commissioner has reasonable grounds to believe that the employer, bargaining agent or other person has contravened a provision of, or an order made under, the Pay Equity Act or its regulations that is designated by regulations made under paragraph 127(1)(a) of that Act.

• Marginal note:Clarification

  (2) For greater certainty, the notice may only be issued for the contravention of a provision of the Pay Equity Act or its regulations that applies with respect to an employer under section 86.3 or 86.4 of this Act or for the contravention of an order that is made under such a provision.

• Marginal note:Contents

  (3) The notice of contravention must

  • (a) name the employer, bargaining agent or other person that is believed to have committed the contravention;

  • (b) set out the relevant facts surrounding the contravention;

  • (c) inform the employer, bargaining agent or other person of their right to contest the facts of the alleged contravention, by way of review, and specify the time within which and the manner in which to do so; and

  • (d) inform the employer, bargaining agent or other person that, if they do not exercise their right referred to in paragraph (c) within the specified time or manner, they will be considered to have committed the contravention.

• Marginal note:Failure to act

  (4) An employer, bargaining agent or other person named in the notice that does not file a request for review within the specified time is considered to have committed the contravention.

• Marginal note:Request for review

  (5) The employer, bargaining agent or other person named in the notice may, within 30 days after the day on which the notice of contravention is served or within any longer period that the Pay Equity Commissioner allows, and in the manner specified in the notice, file a request for review of the acts or omissions that constitute the alleged contravention.

• Marginal note:Grounds for review

  (6) The request for review must state the grounds for review and set out the evidence that supports those grounds.

• Marginal note:Variation or cancellation of notice of contravention

  (7) At any time before a request for review is filed, the Pay Equity Commissioner may cancel the notice of contravention or correct an error in it.

• Marginal note:Completion of review

  (8) On completion of a review, the Pay Equity Commissioner must determine on a balance of probabilities whether the employer, bargaining agent or other person that requested the review committed the contravention.

• Marginal note:Contravention not committed — effect

  (9) If the Pay Equity Commissioner determines under subsection (8) that the employer, bargaining agent or other person did not commit the contravention, the proceedings commenced in respect of it are ended.

• Marginal note:Decision

  (10) The Pay Equity Commissioner must, on completion of the review, cause the employer, bargaining agent or other person to be served with a notice that sets out his or her decision and the reasons for it.

• Marginal note:Decision final

  (11) The decision made on completion of the review is final and is not to be questioned or reviewed in any court.

• Marginal note:Admissibility of documents

  (12) In the absence of evidence to the contrary, a document that appears to be a notice of contravention issued under subsection (1) is presumed to be authentic and is proof of its contents in any proceeding in respect of a contravention.

• Marginal note:Service

  (13) The service of documents required or authorized under this section is governed by regulations made under paragraph 127(1)(h) of the Pay Equity Act, but only to the extent that the regulations apply generally with respect to employers that are referred to in paragraph 3(2)(a) of that Act.