Pay Equity Regulations (SOR/2021-161)

Marginal note:Equal line method

• 29 (1) An employer or pay equity committee, as the case may be, that uses the equal line method of comparison of compensation must apply the following rules:

  • (a) a female regression line must be established for the predominantly female job classes and a male regression line must be established for the predominantly male job classes chosen or created under subsection 19(1);

  • (b) the compensation associated with a predominantly female job class is to be increased only if

    • (i) the female regression line is entirely below the male regression line, and

    • (ii) the predominantly female job class is located below the male regression line;

  • (c) if the compensation associated with a predominantly female job class is to be increased, the increase is to be determined by multiplying the factor calculated in accordance with section 12 by an amount equal to the difference between the compensation associated with the predominantly female job class and the compensation associated with a predominantly male job class chosen or created under subsection 19(1), were such a job class located on the male regression line, in which the value of the work performed is equal to that of the predominantly female job class; and

  • (d) an increase in compensation associated with the predominantly female job classes is to be made in such a way that, after the increase, the female regression line coincides with the male regression line.

• Marginal note:Crossed regression lines

  (2) Despite paragraphs (1)(b) to (d), if the female regression line crosses the male regression line, an employer or pay equity committee, as the case may be, must apply the equal average method set out in section 28 for the comparison of compensation.

Additional Information in Pay Equity Plan

Marginal note:Job classes chosen or created

30 If an employer — or, if a pay equity committee has been established, that committee — has determined under section 35 of the Act that there is no predominantly male job class, the pay equity plan must

• (a) indicate whether the predominantly male job classes used to determine differences in compensation for the purposes of section 60 of the Act were those referred to in paragraph 19(1)(a) or those referred to in paragraph 19(1)(b) and, if job classes referred to in paragraph 19(1)(a) were used, indicate the job classes that were chosen and the other employer that provided the data about them;

• (b) if a group of job classes has been treated as a single predominantly female job class, identify the individual predominantly female job class within the group that was used for the purpose of subsections 20(3) and 23(4);

• (c) indicate any job classes in which differences in compensation have been excluded from the calculation of compensation under section 25 and give the reasons why; and

• (d) if a comparison of compensation was made to determine differences in compensation for the purposes of section 60 of the Act, indicate which of the methods referred to in section 27 was used to make the comparison.

Marginal note:Determination — value already determined

31 If an employer — or, if a pay equity committee has been established, that committee — makes the determination referred to in subsection 41(2) of the Act or subsection 20(2), the pay equity plan must include an indication to this effect.

Confidentiality

Marginal note:Confidentiality of data received from another employer

• 32 (1) Except to identify differences in compensation for the purposes of section 60 of the Act and to comply with section 30, an employer and each member of a pay equity committee that is, directly or indirectly, provided with data from another employer for the purpose of the identification of those differences must keep that data confidential.

• Marginal note:Bargaining agent

  (2) A bargaining agent that receives from a member of a pay equity committee data that the member is required under subsection (1) to keep confidential must also keep the data confidential.

Posting

Marginal note:Draft pay equity plan

33 An employer that is required under section 52 or 53 of the Act to post a draft pay equity plan and a notice must post those documents on the same day and keep them posted for at least 60 days and, if they are posted in paper form, post them close together.

Marginal note:Final version of pay equity plan

34 An employer that is required, in accordance with subsection 55(1) or paragraph 57(2)(b) of the Act, to post the final version of the pay equity plan must keep that plan posted until it posts, in accordance with section 83 or paragraph 85(2)(b) of the Act, the final version of the revised pay equity plan as first updated.

Marginal note:Notice — increases and phase-in period

35 An employer that is required to post a notice under subsection 56(1) of the Act relating to increases or a notice under subsection 56(2) of the Act for a longer phase-in period must keep that notice posted until the later of the 60th day after the day on which it is posted and the day on which the increases to which the notice relates are paid in full.

Pay Equity Maintenance Review

Updated Pay Equity Plan

Marginal note:Notice — employer’s obligation

• 36 (1) An employer that is required to post a notice under subsection 65(1) or (2) of the Act must do so before the first day with respect to which workplace information must be collected under subsection 39(1) in respect of the update referred to in the notice.

• Marginal note:Duration of posting

  (2) The employer must keep the notice posted until it posts the final version of the revised pay equity plan in accordance with section 83 or paragraph 85(2)(b) of the Act or until it posts a notice under subsection 66(1) or (2) of the Act.

Marginal note:Notice — group of employers’ obligation

• 37 (1) An employer that is required to post a notice under subsection 66(1) or (2) of the Act must do so before the first day with respect to which workplace information must be collected under subsection 39(1) in respect of the update referred to in the notice.

• Marginal note:Duration of posting

  (2) The employer must keep the notice posted until it posts the final version of the revised pay equity plan in accordance with section 83 or paragraph 85(2)(b) of the Act or it posts a notice under subsection 65(1) or (2) of the Act.

Marginal note:Notice — update of plan without committee

• 38 (1) An employer that is required under section 73, 74, 76 or 77 of the Act to post a notice that the pay equity plan will be updated without a pay equity committee must do so within 60 days after the day on which the Pay Equity Commissioner authorizes the updating of the plan without a committee.

• Marginal note:Duration of posting

  (2) The employer must keep the notice posted until it posts the final version of the revised pay equity plan in accordance with section 83 or paragraph 85(2)(b) of the Act.

Process for Updating Pay Equity Plan

Marginal note:Workplace information

• 39 (1) For the purpose of identifying any differences in compensation under subsection 78(1) of the Act, an employer — or, if a pay equity committee has been established, that committee — must collect the following information:

  • (a) in the case of an employer referred to in any of paragraphs 3(2)(a) to (d) of the Act, for each March 31 during the period beginning on the day after the day on which the most recent pay equity plan was posted and ending on the day before the day on which the revised pay equity plan is posted under section 80 or 81 of the Act, information that represents its workplace as it was on that March 31 and that is necessary to identify changes — other than changes excluded in accordance with section 40 — that are likely to have had an impact on pay equity since the day on which the most recent pay equity plan was posted or the previous March 31 with respect to which information must be collected under this subsection, if that day is more recent; and

  • (b) in the case of an employer referred to in any of paragraphs 3(2)(e) to (i) of the Act, for each day on which the employer’s fiscal year ends during the period beginning on the day after the day on which the most recent pay equity plan was posted and ending on the day before the day on which the revised pay equity plan is posted under section 80 or 81 of the Act, information that represents its workplace as it was on the day on which the employer’s fiscal year ends and that is necessary to identify changes — other than changes excluded in accordance with section 40 — that are likely to have had an impact on pay equity since the day on which the most recent pay equity plan was posted or the previous day with respect to which information must be collected under this subsection, if that day is more recent.

• Marginal note:Other last day

  (2) However, the last day with respect to which information must be collected before the posting of the final version of the revised pay equity plan in accordance with section 83 or paragraph 85(2)(b) of the Act may be a day selected by the employer or the pay equity committee, as the case may be, if the day that is selected is not more than one year before that version is posted and is before the day on which the revised pay equity plan must be posted under section 80 or 81 of the Act.

Marginal note:Excluded changes

40 For the purposes of subsection 78(1) of the Act, the following changes are excluded:

• (a) all changes that are likely to have an impact on the identification of job classes in accordance with sections 32 to 34 of the Act, other than changes that are likely to result in

  • (i) the creation or elimination of a job class that is predominantly female or predominantly male, or

  • (ii) the merger of a predominantly female or predominantly male job class with another job class;

• (b) all changes that are likely to impact the determination, in accordance with sections 35 to 38 of the Act, of whether a job class is predominantly female or predominantly male — or neither — other than

  • (i) the change of a predominantly male job class to a predominantly female job class,

  • (ii) the change of a predominantly female job class to a predominantly male job class,

  • (iii) the change of a job class that was neither predominantly female nor predominantly male to a job class that is either predominantly female or predominantly male, and

  • (iv) the change of a predominantly female or predominantly male job class to a job class that is neither predominantly male nor predominantly female;

• (c) in the case of a job class in the core public administration, all changes that are likely to have an impact on the value of work performed in the job class as that value is determined in accordance with sections 41 to 43 of the Act, other than any changes in the skill required to perform the work, in the effort required to perform the work, in the responsibility required in the performance of the work or in the conditions under which the work is performed

  • (i) that are significant,

  • (ii) that impact a substantial portion of the positions in the job class, and

  • (iii) whose impact on the job class is not temporary; and

• (d) any change in the compensation associated with a predominantly female or predominantly male job class if, on a percentage basis, the change equally affects the compensation associated with each of the predominantly female or predominantly male job classes.

Marginal note:Use of workplace information — first period

• 41 (1) Subject to subsection (3), the employer — or, if a pay equity committee has been established, that committee — must use the workplace information collected under section 39 with respect to the first day referred to in that section in respect of the pay equity plan being updated to identify, for the purposes of subsection 78(1) of the Act, any differences in compensation for the period beginning on the day on which the most recent pay equity plan was posted and ending on that first day.

• Marginal note:Use of workplace information — subsequent periods

  (2) Subject to subsection (3), for each subsequent day referred to in section 39 in respect of the pay equity plan being updated, the employer or pay equity committee, as the case may be, must use the workplace information collected under that section with respect to that subsequent day to identify, for the purposes of subsection 78(1) of the Act, any differences in compensation for the period beginning on the day after the previous day with respect to which information must be collected under section 39 and ending on that subsequent day.

• Marginal note:Retroactive salary rate change

  (3) If workplace information that is collected with respect to a day referred to in section 39 contains a salary rate that, after that day but before the posting of the final version of the revised pay equity plan, is changed with retroactive effect starting from that day or earlier, the employer or pay equity committee, as the case may be, must use the retroactive salary rate applicable to that day rather than the salary rate in the information that was collected or a salary rate calculated under section 45.

Marginal note:Job classes not treated as part of group

42 If an employer — or, if a pay equity committee has been established, that committee — treated a group of job classes as a single predominantly female job class in its most recent pay equity plan and if workplace information collected under section 39 indicates that any of the following has occurred in a period set out in subsection 41(1) or (2), then for the purposes of subsection 78(1) of the Act, that employer or committee, as the case may be, may not continue to treat those job classes as a group in accordance with section 38 of the Act for that period or for any subsequent period until the posting of the final version of the updated pay equity plan:

• (a) less than 60% of the positions in the group are occupied by women;

• (b) a job class has been created since the most recent posting of the pay equity plan and added to the group; or

• (c) a job class within the group has been combined with another job class within or outside the group.

Marginal note:Group of job classes — number of employees

43 For the purposes of subsection 78(1) of the Act, with respect to a period referred to in subsection 41(1) or (2) of these Regulations, the rules under subsections 41(3) and 44(2) of the Act apply as if the reference in those subsections to “the individual predominantly female job class within the group that has the greatest number of employees” were a reference to the predominantly female job class within the group of job classes that had the greatest number of employees on the day with respect to which the workplace information that is used for that period was collected under section 39 if, when the employer — or, if a pay equity committee has been established, that committee — is using this information, it treats the group of job classes as a single predominantly female job class in accordance with section 38 of the Act.

Marginal note:Calculation of compensation

• 44 (1) For the purpose of identifying any differences in compensation under subsection 78(1) of the Act, the employer — or, if a pay equity committee has been established, that committee — must calculate compensation associated with predominantly female job classes and predominantly male job classes in accordance with the rules set out in sections 44 to 46 of the Act for each period for which the workplace information that has been collected must be used under section 41.

• Marginal note:Phase-in of increases

  (2) If an increase in compensation associated with a predominantly female job class is being phased in under subsection 61(2), 62(4) or 63(2) of the Act, then for the purposes of subsection 78(1) of the Act, the employer or pay equity committee, as the case may be, must calculate the compensation associated with the job class for each period set out in subsection 41(1) or (2) as if the increase had been made without being phased in.

Marginal note:Prohibited comparison — frozen compensation

45 For the purposes of subsection 78(1) of the Act, in carrying out the comparison of compensation using the rules and factors set out in sections 47 to 50 of the Act, an employer — or, if a pay equity committee has been established, that committee — must ensure that, for each period set out in subsection 41(1) or (2), no comparison is made between frozen compensation associated with a predominantly female or predominantly male job class and compensation that is not frozen and that is associated with a predominantly female or predominantly male job class in which unionized employees occupy positions, unless the salary rate that is used to determine salary in the calculation of the frozen compensation associated with a job class is

• (a) the salary rate obtained by adding, to the highest salary rate in the range of salary rates for positions in the job class, the product obtained by multiplying

  • (i) the salary at the highest rate in the range of salary rates for positions in the job class

  by

  • (ii) the average percentage by which, since the compensation associated with the job class became frozen, the salary for positions in job classes that contain positions occupied by unionized employees to whom the pay equity plan applies and who are governed by a collective agreement that is not expired has increased; or

• (b) if a pay equity committee has been established, the salary rate determined using a method other than the one set out in paragraph (a) that minimizes, to the extent possible, the differences in compensation that result only from the compensation associated with a job class being frozen.