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Ontario’s Pay Equity Act

with Selected Case References, 2022

Disclaimer: This Guide gives an overview of the minimum requirements of the Pay Equity Act as interpreted by the Pay Equity Office. The interpretations are drawn from our own experiences and by applying the key rulings of the Pay Equity Hearings Tribunal and the courts and is current to the date ​of publication.

Changed circumstances, no bargaining units

In this section

14.2 (1) In an establishment where no employee is represented by a bargaining agent, if the employer is of the view that because of changed circumstances in the establishment the pay equity plan for the establishment is no longer appropriate, the employer may amend the plan and post in the workplace a copy of the amended plan with the amendments clearly indicated.

Corporation of the Municipality of Wawa v. Confidential Employee, 2010 CanLII 63656 (ON PEHT) 2010-11-03 — The municipality, who had a previous pay equity plan in place which covered all non-union employees, amended the plan to reflect changes in job content and restructuring that took place. At para. 39, the Tribunal upheld the employer’s new pay equity plan and found that the changes made by the employer which they classified under changed circumstances could also have been made under maintenance.

Call-A-Service Inc v An Anonymous Employee, 2008 CanLII 88827 (ON PEHT) 2008-04-28 — The Tribunal held that that an employer contravened s. 7(1) of the Act by introducing salary scales that were inconsistent with the Act, after the plan had been approved. Looking at the employer’s ability to amend a plan, the tribunal noted that the Act does not define the term “changed circumstances”. It is clear, however, that the existing plan must be “no longer appropriate” for the establishment. Implicitly, in changed circumstances, the employer must prepare and implement a new pay equity plan because the existing one is no longer suitable for the establishment. Some examples of changed circumstances could be restructuring of the establishment; the certification of a union in a non-union establishment; and the amalgamation or merger of two or more employers.

Application of s. 15

(2) Subsections 15 (2) to (8) apply, with necessary modifications, in respect of the amended plan.

Adjustments

(3) If a plan is amended under this section, the compensation adjustment for each position to which the amended plan applies shall not be less than the adjustment that would have been made under the plan before it was amended. 1993, c. 4, s. 9.

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