Two different jobs that contribute equal value to an employer’s operations should receive equal pay. Pay Equity is a human right.
Federally regulated employers with 10 or more employees have three years to develop and post a pay equity plan.
The Canadian Association of Movers is working with the Federal Government to ensure that our members have the information they need to make sure they will be compliant with the new pay equity regulations.
**new** New Pay Equity Regulations Come Into Effect September 3
The Government of Canada's Labour Program published new regulations to further support the implementation of the Pay Equity Act: the Regulations Amending the Pay Equity Regulations (Administrative Monetary Penalties and Technical Amendments). The Regulations are aimed at reducing pay gaps and protecting pay equity for approximately 1.4 million workers in our federally regulated sectors, now and into the future.
The changes, which amend the previous Pay Equity Regulations, are now in force and are available online in Part II of the Canada Gazette.
Reminder: Employers who were subject to the Act upon its coming into force are required to submit their pay equity plans no later than September 3, 2024. The Canadian Human Rights Commission has helpful tools and resources to support workplaces.
Pay Equity Technical Briefing Webinar
The webinar was hosted by CAM.
- You can view the presentation slides below.
- You can listen to the webinar and view the presentation. It's 1 hour and 23 minutes.
What is pay equity?
Canadians have the right to experience workplace compensation practices that are free from gender-based discrimination. Pay equity aims to ensure that employers provide you with equal pay for doing work of equal value.
The Pay Equity Act came into force on August 31, 2021.
The Act requires federally regulated employers with 10 or more employees to take a proactive approach to pay equity. This means taking a closer look at their practices and correcting gender wage gaps within their organizations. The Office of the Pay Equity Commissioner works to promote pay equity and provide support and tools to these organizations so they can fully realize pay equity in their workplaces.
The Pay Equity Unit of the Canadian Human Rights Commission provides helpful information on its website in both English and French.
Pay Equity Timeline
Federally regulated employers with an average of 10 or more employees must proactively achieve pay equity by developing a Pay Equity Plan.
Here are the key milestones:
2021 – 2024 Create a Pay Equity Plan
- Year 1 to Year 3
- Post the final pay equity plan and notice of increases by September 3, 2024
2024 – 2029 Increase Employee Compensation
- Year 3 to Year 8
- Increases in compensations starting September 24, 2024.
- Phase in these increases between 2024 and 2029 (if applicable).
2025 File your first annual statement
- Year 4 and then yearly onwards
- File first annual statement with the Pay Equity Commissioner by June 30 2025
Here's a nifty infographic on the timelines.
Key steps to creating & posting a pay equity plan
- Create job classes.
- Determine which job classes are predominantly female and which ones are predominantly male.
- Value the work done in each of these job classes.
- Calculate total compensation in dollars per hour for each of these job classes.
- Compare compensation to determine if there are differences in compensation between male and female job classes of equal value.
- Prepare the contents of the pay equity plan.
- Post the draft and final versions of the pay equity plan.
Here are the key steps.
Do we need a pay equity committee?
Depending on the size of your workforce, employers may need to establish a pay equity committee. The role of the committee is to develop a pay equity plan. Not sure if you need to form a committee? Check out this infographic from Trucking HR Canada.
Available Resources
Pay Equity toolkit for small employers
If you are a small employer and are looking to start your pay equity plan, you can make a request for the Pay Equity Toolkit by submitting a Request for Information Form.
The Pay Equity Toolkit includes:
- Pay Equity Tool
An Excel based tool designed to support small to medium sized federally regulated organizations in creating their pay equity plan. It helps employers link positions to job classes, determine gender predominance of job classes, evaluate job classes using a point factor method, calculate the hourly value of total compensation and determine whether there are any gaps in total compensation between male and female predominant job classes using the equal average method.
- Pay Equity Summary Template
A word document linked to the Pay Equity Tool. This template organizes the information entered in the Pay Equity Tool in a way that meets the requirements of section 51 of the Act. The template can be printed and used for posting purposes.
- User Guide
The guide follows each step required to create a pay equity plan.
- Job Evaluation Guide
The guide will assist employers with understanding the principles of job evaluation and applying the job evaluation method created in the Pay Equity Tool.
- Hourly Calculator
An Excel tool to convert annual salary to an hourly amount.
- Case Study
The case study demonstrates how an organization undertakes the work to create their first pay equity plan in compliance with the Pay Equity Act. In addition to covering the steps and principles of creating a Pay Equity Plan, the case study provides examples of what those steps would look like within the Pay Equity Plan Tool.
Interpretations, Policies, and Guidelines
To help get you started, the following interpretations, policies, and guidelines are available in both English and French.
- Definition of Employee
- Definition of Employer
- Pay Equity Committees
Infographics for your workplace
The federal government has created a series of infographics in English and French to raise awareness about pay equity and inform federal regulated workplaces about their legal obligations. Employers are encouraged to print them and post them in their workplace.
The infographics can be found on this website:
Town Hall Meeting
Former Pay Equity Commissioner Karen Jensen held the first Pay Equity Town Hall on September 29, 2022. The recording of that event is available here.
The event featured the following:
Opening remarks:
- A look back at a ground breaking year;
- A fireside chat with two guest speakers (Ontario Pay Equity Commissioner Kadie Ward and Pay Equity Consultant Denis Khlat; and,
- A question and answer period.
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