The Pay Equity Act lays out the rules all employers must follow. However, there may be certain situations when an employer or pay equity committee needs to ask the Pay Equity Commissioner for permission to change the way certain rules apply to them.
The Commissioner has the authority to approve these requests if they meet certain criteria. The table below outlines the kinds of requests possible. If you wish to file a request for authorization, you can do so through the Pay Equity Portal.
| The general rule is... | However, a request can be made... |
|---|---|
| The Pay Equity Act applies to each employer individually | For a group of employers to be recognized as a single employer. Find out more about groups of employers. |
| Each employer must develop and post one pay equity plan that covers all of their employees | To establish multiple pay equity plans. Find out more about multiple pay equity plans. |
| An employer who must, or who chooses, to set up a pay equity committee must follow a committee-led process | To establish or update a pay equity plan without a pay equity committee in limited circumstances. Find out more about pay equity committees. |
| Pay equity committees must meet the membership requirements in the Pay Equity Act | To set up a pay equity committee with different membership requirements. To allow a pay equity committee with different membership requirements to continue its work. |
| An employer must use the equal average or equal line method to compare compensation | To use another method to compare compensation. Find out more about other methods of comparison |
| An employer must meet the deadlines for key pay equity milestones in the Pay Equity Act | To extend the deadline for posting a pay equity plan. To extend the deadline for phasing in increases in compensation. Information on these types of requests is available through the Pay Equity Portal. |
You can request to be recognized as a group of employers as per Section 106 of the Pay Equity Act.
Employers that are part of the same industry, that have similar pay practices and have jobs with similar duties and responsibilities, can request to be recognized as a single employer. If the formation of a group of employers is approved, all of the employers in the group have the same timeline to meet their obligations and must then prepare a single plan that covers all of the employees of the group of employers.
We will assess if:
You can request to establish more than one pay equity plan as per Section 107 of the Pay Equity Act.
The Pay Equity Act requires employers to develop one pay equity plan for their whole workforce. However, there may be some circumstances that justify the establishment of more than one plan.
An employer, or a group of employers, or any bargaining agent or representative of the non-unionized employees may apply for an authorization to develop multiple pay equity plans.
After we have received an application and given opportunities to those affected by the application to provide evidence and representations, we will assess whether:
| Categories of committee | What can you request? | Description | Assessment process |
|---|---|---|---|
| Without a committee | You can ask to develop your pay equity plan without a pay equity committee (Section 108 of the Pay Equity Act) | If an employer is unable to set up a pay equity committee despite making all reasonable efforts to do so, they can apply for an authorization to establish or update a pay equity plan without a committee. | We will assess whether:
|
| With a different membership | You can apply to establish or continue your work with a pay equity committee that has a different membership than what is identified in the Pay Equity Act (Section 109 of the Pay Equity Act) | A Pay Equity Committee must meet the following requirements:
If the employer is unable to establish a committee that meets the requirements above, the employer must ask the Commissioner for permission to set up or continue with a different committee membership composition. | We will assess whether:
|
| Cannot perform its work | You can request an authorization to establish a pay equity plan without a pay committee when the committee cannot perform its work (Section 110 of the Pay Equity act) | If after establishing a pay equity committee, an employer or a group of employers is of the opinion that the committee is unable to perform its work, a request for an authorization to establish a pay equity plan without the committee can be made. | When we receive the request, we will first try to assist the pay equity committee in doing its work, including providing mediation services to the parties. If the matter is not resolved through mediation, we will assess whether:
|
You can request authorization to use a different compensation comparison method as per Section 111 of the Pay Equity Act.
An employer or a pay equity committee must either use the equal average or the equal line method to compare compensation while developing or updating a pay equity plan.
In the case of an employer or a group of employers without a pay equity committee, an authorization by the Pay Equity Commissioner is required before a different comparison method can be used.
However, if a pay equity committee determines that neither method can be used, they can use a different compensation comparison method, without the need for an authorization.
We will assess:
You can apply for an extension of the deadline to post the final or updated pay equity plan as per Section 112 of the Pay Equity Act.
An employer or a group of employers who needs more time to post their final or updated pay equity plan can apply to the Commissioner for an extension of the deadline set out in the Act.
We will assess:
You can apply for an extension of the deadline to phase in increases in compensation as per Section 113 of the Pay Equity Act.
If an employer is experiencing extreme financial hardship, they may ask for an extension of the deadline to phase in increases in compensation. Demonstrating extreme financial hardship is a high threshold to cross. If the Commissioner approves the request, the employer must meet the new deadline when phasing in increases in compensation.
We will assess:
The Pay Equity Act and Regulations set out the rules that employers must follow to develop a pay equity plan. However, there are certain situations when an employer, a bargaining agent or non-unionized employees (“Workplace parties”) may ask the Pay Equity Commissioner for permission to modify some of these rules. These are called Authorization requests.
As the requestor, you are responsible for demonstrating to the Pay Equity Commissioner that your authorization request should be granted. Be sure to provide all relevant supporting materials when you submit your form. Please take note of the following important information:
Once you submit your authorization request application, the Office of the Pay Equity Commissioner will review your information to ensure:
The Office of the Pay Equity Commissioner will then contact you in the Pay Equity Portal. Where appropriate, workplace parties may be provided an opportunity to submit representations to your request.
A workplace party can be any certified bargaining agent, employer or non-unionized employee that is not the requestor and who might be affected by an authorization request (affected party).
For multiple plan authorization requests, workplace parties affected by the request are given the opportunity to provide written representations to add to the request. The workplace parties are provided access to the authorization request application in order to prepare their representations.
For all other authorization requests, the Office of the Pay Equity Commissioner may ask for written representations from affected workplace parties if this assists in the assessment of the request. The workplace parties are provided access to the authorization request application, and all non-confidential information for the purpose of preparing their representations.
The Office of the Pay Equity Commissioner will inform the affected parties of the next steps in the process
Please note that filing an authorization request does not extend the timeline to create a pay equity plan. Additionally, even if an authorization request is made to extend the timeline for posting the pay equity plan, and that extension is granted, any compensation increases are still due on the day after the three-year deadline. Employers who owe their employees increases will have to pay them a lump sum plus compounding daily interest, calculated as of the three-year deadline.
Note: If you still have questions about filing an Authorization request, you can use the Pay Equity Portal to send us a Request for Information. If you are ready to file, submit an Authorization Request in the Pay Equity Portal.