Employers are not allowed to penalize employees in any way for being involved in or asking questions about pay equity processes, objecting to pay equity plans, or otherwise exercising their rights to pay equity.

[9. (2)] No employer, employee or bargaining agent and no one acting on behalf of an employer, employee or bargaining agent shall intimidate, coerce or penalize, or discriminate against, a person,

• because the person may participate, or is participating, in a proceeding under this Act;
• because the person has made, or may make, a disclosure required in a proceeding under this Act;
• because the person is exercising, or may exercise, any right under this Act; or
• because the person has acted or may act in compliance with this Act, the regulations or an order made under this Act or has sought or may seek the enforcement of this Act, the regulations or an order made under this Act.

In cases where the complaint claims that he/she was penalized for exercising his/her pay equity rights, the complainant must show that he/she was actually engaged in an activity outlined in [9. (2)] and that he/she experienced some form of punishment by the respondent. To find a contravention of [9. (2)], the Review Officer must decide based his or her investigation of the facts that the employer’s actions fell within the behaviours prohibited by the provision Clow v. Peterborough (City), 1996 CanLII 8060 (ON PEHT).