Part I of the Act applies to ALL employers covered by the Act and sets out the fundamental principles and general, ongoing obligations. This first part prescribes the minimum requirements to establish, achieve and maintain compensation practices that provide for pay equity. It covers the purpose of pay equity, when pay equity is achieved, definitions of terms, exceptions where differences in compensation between male and female job classes are permitted, prohibition against reducing compensation to achieve pay equity, and prohibition against intimidation of employees exercising their rights to pay equity.

Part II of the Act, labelled “Implementation,” contains specific provisions and deadlines for larger and public sector employers in existence when the Act came into effect. Part II of the Act applies only to:

• Public sector employers who were in existence on January 1, 1988, or came into existence by July 1, 1993, and
• Private sector employers who employed 100 or more employees on January 1, 1988, and;
• Private sector employers who employed 10 to 99 employees on January 1, 1988, and chose to post a plan by December 31, 1993.

Part II employers are required to follow a mechanism for preparing, posting and amending pay equity plans within specific time frames for implementation. Part II also outlines different processes that these employers adopt, depending on whether or not their employees were represented by bargaining agents on the relevant date.

Part III was repealed on January 1, 1994.

Part III.1 of the Act describes the proportional value method of comparison. Part III.2 describes the proxy method for those public sector employers specifically described in the Appendix to the Act that had employees on July 1, 1993 and could not achieve pay equity for their female job classes using job-to-job or proportional value methods of comparison.

Part IV explains enforcement, complaints and investigations.

Part V outlines governance issues including the structure, jurisdiction of the Commission, the Office, the Tribunal and sets out the powers of Review Officers.

Part VI contains Regulations, Schedule and the Appendix that describes public sector employers.