Part II of the Act sets out specific requirements that only apply to certain large private sector and public sector employers that existed on January 1, 1988. The legislature understood that employers had existing compensation practices, some of which had been negotiated with their bargaining agents. In order to achieve pay equity in existing workplaces, the Act laid out a process to be implemented by existing employers, or existing employers and their bargaining agents, within specified time frames.
- Who are “Part II employers”?
- Private sector employers that had 100 or more employees on January 1, 1988.
- Private sector employers, employing 10 to 99 employees on January 1, 1988 and chose to post a pay equity plan no later than December 31, 1993.
- Public sector employers that had employees on January 1, 1988.
- Public sector employers that did not have employees on January 1, 1988 but that had employees on July 1, 1993.
- What are the Part II requirements?
Employers subject to Part II of the Act must:
- compare job classes using a gender-neutral comparisons system if both male and female job classes exist [12];
- prepare and post pay equity plan(s) according to the requirements outlined in [13];
- negotiate all aspects of the pay equity plan with their existing unions in establishments with bargaining agents [14];
- follow the process for accessing the Commission to resolve impasses in the negotiation process prior to the deemed approval of pay equity plans [16, 17];
- follow the process for amending a pay equity plan in situations where changed circumstances in the organization cause the initial plan to no longer be appropriate [14.1, 14.2];
- ensure that pay equity obligations are met when there is a “Sale of Business”, including following the process for developing a new plan if necessary [13.1];
- spend a minimum of 1% of the previous year’s payroll for pay equity adjustments until pay equity is achieved within the timelines set by the Act [13. (4) – (6)]; and,
- meet the original compliance deadlines for implementing pay equity.
NOTE: This may require the payment of pay equity related wages that are owed retroactive to the date when first adjustments were due or when pay equity should have been implemented or achieved [13. (2) (e)].