The requirement to maintain pay equity in public sector workplaces that have achieved pay equity through the proxy method awaits further clarification from the Pay Equity Hearings Tribunal.
Special Note as of May 1, 2019 – In effect until rescinded
In Ontario Nurses’ Association v Participating Nursing Homes, 2016 CanLII 2675 (ON PEHT), the PEHT had determined that after pay equity has been achieved using the proxy method, pay equity is maintained for all job classes by ensuring that the compensation and value relationship used to establish pay equity under the proxy pay equity plan continues to be maintained internally, without requiring ongoing comparisons with the external proxy employer. However, on April 30, 2019, the Divisional Court of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice overturned the decision, and the Court directed the Tribunal to specify what procedures should be used to ensure that the claimants who achieved pay equity through the proxy methodology continue to have access to a male comparator in order to determine whether pay equity has been maintained. Until the Tribunal’s process is complete, the Pay Equity Office has paused its offer of any general guidance on this topic.
