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Ontario’s Pay Equity Act

with Selected Case References, 2022

Disclaimer: This resource is for information only, and is intended to assist employers in complying with the Pay Equity Act. It is not to be construed or considered as legal advice, nor warranted to be complete and accurate, and may be amended without notice. It does not restrict Review Officers of the Pay Equity Office in their interpretation and determination of matters under the Act.

Sale of a business

13.1 (1) If an employer who is bound by a pay equity plan sells a business, the purchaser shall make any compensation adjustments that were to be made under the plan in respect of those positions in the business that are maintained by the purchaser and shall do so on the date on which the adjustments were to be made under the plan.

Saydat Hospitality Inc. v. 2059419 Ontario Inc., 2010 CanLII 63607 (ON PEHT) 2010-11-02 — The applicant sought a variance to the Order removing it as a respondent and confirming that the employer is not jointly and severally liable to make the payments required to be paid to a previous operator for motel, that it purchased all of the assets of. The Tribunal found employers are jointly and severally liable in the context of sale of business, but section 13.1 does not apply to employers who were never subject to Part II. Here, the applicant was not an employer to whom Part II of the Act applied.

Child’s Place v. Fitzpatrick, 2002 CanLII 49459 (ON PEHT) 2002-10-07 — At para. 14, the Tribunal discusses the interpretation of section 13.1. They note that section 13.1 can be interpreted as placing joint and several liability on both the purchaser and seller of a business. It does not absolve a seller of liability for outstanding adjustments at the point a sale is made.

Plan no longer appropriate

(2) If, because of the sale, the seller’s plan or the purchaser’s plan is no longer appropriate, the seller or the purchaser, as the case may be, shall,

(a) in the case of employees represented by a bargaining agent, enter into negotiations with a view to agreeing on a new plan; and

(b) in the case of employees not represented by a bargaining agent, prepare a new plan. 1993, c. 4, s. 8.

Same

(3) Clause 14 (2) (a), subsections 1 (1) to (6) and 14.2 (1) and (2) apply, with necessary modifications, to the negotiation or preparation of a new plan. 1997, c. 21,

(4) (1). Repealed: 1997, 21, s. 4 (1).

Application to certain events

(4.1) This section applies with respect to an occurrence described in sections 3 to 10 of the Public Sector Labour Relations Transition Act, 1997. For the purposes of this section, the occurrence shall be deemed to be the sale of a business, each of the predecessor employers shall be deemed to be a seller and the successor employer shall be deemed to be the purchaser. 1997, c. 21, s. 4 (2).

Definitions

(5) In this section,

“business” includes a part or parts thereof; (“entreprise”)

“sells” includes leases, transfers and any other manner of disposition. (“vend”) 1993, 4, s. 8.

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