ESPE Committee Report

Recommendation 1

The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada repeal the Public Sector Equitable Compensation Act.

Recommendation 2

The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada draft proactive pay equity legislation within 18 months of the tabling of this report.

Recommendation 3

The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada accept the overall direction of the 2004 Federal Pay Equity Task Force report and that the majority of the recommendations be adopted.

Recommendation 4

The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada include provisions in the proposed proactive pay equity legislation requiring that it be reviewed by Parliament every five years following a three-year implementation period.

Recommendation 5

The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada draft the proposed proactive gender pay equity legislation such that it applies to the federal public service, Crown corporations, all federally regulated companies with 15 employees or more and companies participating in the Federal Contractors Program. Companies within the Federal Contractors Program that already report to provincial jurisdictions with pay equity legislation, and that can provide evidence of compliance with the provincial legislation, should be exempted from federal pay equity plan, monitoring and reporting obligations.

Recommendation 6

The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada include provisions in the proposed proactive pay equity legislation making it applicable to all unionized, non-unionized, full-time, part-time, casual, seasonal and temporary employees.

Recommendation 7

The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada’s proposed proactive pay equity legislation include provisions to create a distinct Pay Equity Commission and a distinct Pay Equity Tribunal and that both bodies be given the jurisdiction, authorities, expertise and resources to fully execute their responsibilities.

Recommendation 8

The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada provide, in legislation, the proposed Pay Equity Commission with the following roles and responsibilities:

1. The authority to:
1. receive complaints
2. initiate proactive investigations
3. issue compliance orders
4. investigate complaints (including authority to enter premises, and summon documents and interview personnel)
5. conduct audits of compliance.
2. Provide monitoring, verifying compliance with, enforcing, and following up on pay equity plans.
3. Provide mediation and alternative dispute resolution services.
4. Provide education and training programs.
5. Provide tools, information and advice for establishing committees, reporting, and monitoring measures.
6. Provide specialized supports for small and medium-sized enterprises.
7. Provide supports for unrepresented complainants who are referred to the Pay Equity Tribunal by the Commission.
8. Provide research functions including identification of benefits to companies that comply with the legislation, best practices, simplified tools and reporting mechanisms.

Recommendation 9

The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada establish in legislation the requirement that the proposed federal Pay Equity Commission report annually to Parliament.

Recommendation 10

The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada provide the proposed Pay Equity Tribunal with the following roles and responsibilities, defined in legislation:

1. Clear enforcement authorities established in legislation, including clearly defined timelines by which pay equity plans and payment of wage adjustments will be completed.
2. The authority:
1. to formulate a broad range of remedial measures aimed at assisting and directing employers and employee representatives to achieve compliance with the statute
2. to award compensation for acts of intimidation or reprisal by employers, employees, employer organizations or employee organizations against employees or others who are exercising their rights or carrying out responsibilities under the legislation
3. to order that a violation of the statue be discontinued and not repeated
4. to order compensation where harm to individuals can be established
5. to order the disclosure and publication of information
6. to devise flexible and innovative remedies in the interpretation and application of pay equity plans
7. to prosecute and impose fines and sanctions
8. to file and enforce orders through the Federal Court.

Recommendation 11

The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada provide, in legislation, the proposed Pay Equity Tribunal with explicit authority to award costs.

Recommendation 12

The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada provide short-term bridge funding, if required, to the Canadian Human Rights Commission to enable the Commission to assume responsibility for federal public service pay equity complaints until a new pay equity commission and tribunal are established.

Recommendation 13

The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada ensure that flexible options for small companies are reflected in the proposed proactive pay equity legislation, including the requirement that only organizations with 100 or more full-time equivalent employees establish pay equity committees. Such committees must include bargaining agents and employees not represented by bargaining agents, and at least 50% of the members should be women.

Recommendation 14

The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada permit, encourage and provide support to small employers with fewer than 100 employees to create sectoral committees in order to: minimize administrative burden; share resources; and, collaborate in preparing job evaluations used for pay equity plans.

Recommendation 15

The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada include provisions in the proposed proactive pay equity legislation requiring that both bargaining agents and employers be responsible for the modelling, implementation, execution, monitoring and maintenance of pay equity plans.

Recommendation 16

The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada establish a legal fund that can be accessed by unrepresented complainants in pay equity disputes in exceptional circumstances, on the recommendation of the proposed Pay Equity Commission.

Recommendation 17

The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada include provisions in the proposed proactive pay equity legislation that would prohibit unions and employers from negotiating collective agreements that would contravene the new pay equity legislation, and that any pay equity agreement under the new legislation would supersede any collective bargaining agreement.

Recommendation 18

The Committee recommends that, following consultations with stakeholders, pay equity methodologies should be introduced through regulations and that they be clear and prescriptive, but with sufficient flexibility to accommodate smaller organizations. In the development of methodologies, those used by other jurisdictions should be considered, specifically those with features designed to minimize the administrative burden on smaller employers.

Recommendation 19

The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada include clear definitions of key terminology in the proposed proactive pay equity legislation and regulations.

Recommendation 20

The Committee recommends that methodologies and pay equity plans include non-salary compensation, such as bonuses and other benefits, in the calculation of wages.

Recommendation 21

The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada include provisions in the proposed proactive pay equity legislation that would define a female-dominated job classification as a one that includes at least 60% of women for job classifications of 100 or more employees and one that includes at least 70% of women for job classifications with fewer than 100 employees.

Recommendation 22

The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada include provisions in the proposed proactive pay equity legislation stipulating that the average salaries and bonuses, if applicable, within salary ranges be used in wage comparisons.

Recommendation 23

The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada consider including more than one job classification methodology in the regulations of the proposed proactive pay equity legislation, to take into account: sectoral job classifications; the structures and resource limitations of small organizations; companies with non-unionized employees; and, the complex structure of the federal public service job classification system.

Recommendation 24

The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada consider the methods used to address civil service job classifications in provinces that have enacted proactive pay equity legislation. The Government of Canada should also consider the successful methodologies used for smaller employers in the province of Quebec.

Recommendation 25

The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada incorporate recommendation 12.3 from the report (Pay Equity: A New Approach to A Fundamental Right) of the 2004 Task Force on Pay Equity, which outlines the exemptions from the calculation of wages, in the proposed proactive pay equity legislation.

Recommendation 26

The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada include provisions in the proposed proactive pay equity legislation that allow the proposed pay equity commission to implement time-limited flexible measures to meet the needs of employers in financial hardship and employers requiring workers with specific skills that are in short supply and for which the employers can demonstrate higher salaries are required.

Recommendation 27

The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada consider streamlined reporting and monitoring obligations with respect to pay equity plans for employers, based on systems employed by provincial governments, in order to minimize the administrative burden for employers, particularly smaller employers, and that these obligations be a key subject for consultations with employers.

Recommendation 28

The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada include provisions in the proposed proactive pay equity legislation or regulations that employers must make maintenance reviews accessible to employees and provide a copy to the proposed Pay Equity Commission every three years.

Recommendation 29

The Committee recommends that, recognizing the need for consultation with stakeholders, the Government of Canada should include provisions in the proposed proactive pay equity legislation requiring all employers (public service, federally regulated employers and firms under the Federal Contractors Program) to have pay equity plans, and for employers with 100 or more employees committees in place, within three years of the legislation coming into force. The Government of Canada should also require employers to issue any wage adjustments within three years after completion of their pay equity plans.

Recommendation 30

The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada introduce a Motion in Parliament to establish March 18 of each year as Equal Pay Day, the day that is calculated to mark the additional number of working days that women must work in comparison to the 365 days in a given year that men work performing the same job to earn the same wage. The day could be used to raise awareness and broader understanding of pay equity issues.

Recommendation 31

The Committee recommends that Statistics Canada allocate additional resources to collecting better data and conducting analysis in order to determine the casual factors of the unexplained portion of the gender wage gap in Canada.