Pay Equity Act Implementation Update and Next Steps

March 17, 2022 - Defence Stories

This is further to the October 15, 2021, communication whereby we informed you of the coming into force of the Pay Equity Act (the Act) on August 31, 2021.

As we continue to move forward with the implementation of the Act in the core public administration (CPA), I would like to inform you of the Treasury Board Secretariat’s (TBS) next step. 

Single Pay Equity Plan versus Multiple Pay Equity Plans for the CPA

TBS, on behalf of Treasury Board as the employer, is currently exploring the possibility of establishing three separate pay equity plans for employees in the CPA. Though the Act, by default, requires a single pay equity plan for the CPA, it allows for a party to apply for multiple play equity plans. Proceeding with multiple pay equity plans would require approval by the Pay Equity Commissioner (PEC).

Consultation with Bargaining Agents and Non-Unionized Employees

Based on guidance provided by the Office of the Pay Equity Commissioner (OPEC), TBS must first engage and consult with workplace parties, to ensure that they understand the impact of a single versus multiple pay equity plans may have on them. In this instance, “workplace parties” refers to bargaining agent representatives and non-unionized employees.

TBS is in direct contact with bargaining agent representatives to consult them on the question of multiple plans. If you are a unionized employee and would like more information about this process, we encourage you to contact your bargaining agent.

If you are a non-unionized employee and would like to participate in this consultation process, we encourage you to email TBS directly at per-res@tbs-sct.gc.ca. Upon receipt of your email, you will be asked to validate your non-unionized status. After the validation, you will receive the necessary materials to participate in this process. All feedback is due to be returned to TBS no later than April 6, 2022.

Unsure if you are non-unionized?

Under the Act, the term "non-unionized employee" has a specific meaning. Examples of non-unionized employees in the CPA would include employees in the following classifications, as long as they don’t perform management functions or provide labour relations advice, and are not employed in a confidential capacity:

• the personnel administration (PE) classification,
• the executive (EX) classification,
• the program administration mediation conciliation (PM-MCO), and
• the organization and methods (OM) classification.

New Pay Equity GCconnex Group

TBS is also taking this opportunity to notify all employees in the CPA of its new pay equity group on GCconnex, titled Pay equity for employees in the core public administration. TBS will be posting periodic updates and providing employees with the information they need to be up to date on pay equity implementation in the CPA.

For employees that do not currently have a GCconnex account, we encourage you to sign up here. If you have questions about GCconnex or require any help with signing up, please visit the GCconnex contact page.

Questions?

For the latest information on pay equity, we encourage all employees to visit the new TBS pay equity group on GCconnex, Canada.ca and the Canadian Human Rights Commission website (you are now leaving the Government of Canada website).