Federally regulated private-sector employers and Crown corporations
The Employment Equity Act applies to federally regulated private-sector employers, Crown corporations, separate federal agencies and federal contractors with over 100 employees, as well as to the federal public service, the Canadian Forces and the RCMP.
If you are a Crown corporation or an employer in the federally regulated private sector, you have certain obligations and responsibilities under the Act. You must:
- conduct a workforce survey
- undertake a workforce analysis
- conduct an employment systems review of your human resource policies and practices
- prepare, implement, monitor, review and revise an employment equity plan that includes short-term and long-term numerical goals to close gaps in representation
- consult with employee representatives on your employment equity plan
- introduce positive measures to accommodate the four designated groups
- provide information to your employees on the purpose of employment equity and on its implementation
- maintain employment equity records
- report annually to the Minister of Labour by June 1, and
- submit to a compliance audit by the Canadian Human Rights Commission
Employers must ensure that they meet the reporting requirements and compliance audits under the Employment Equity Act.
For more information on how to fulfill your employer obligations under the Act, please see the following:
For a list of federally regulated private-sector employers and Crown corporations that are subject to the Legislated Employment Equity Program, please see the LEEP Employers List.
Reporting requirements
The Legislated Employment Equity Program (LEEP) covers federally regulated private-sector employers and Crown corporations that have 100 or more employees and are subject to the Employment Equity Act. Every year by June 1, over 500 of these employers submit employment equity reports to the Labour Program.
The individual employer report must always cover the previous calendar year's information on the overall workforce and the four designated groups. It must consist of:
- prescribed statistical forms provided by industrial sector, employee status (i.e., permanent full-time, permanent part-time and temporary), occupational group, salary range, hiring, promotion and termination, and
- a narrative covering employment equity implementation activities the employer conducted during the calendar year being reported, including:
- measures taken
- results achieved following these activities, and
- consultations between the employer and employee representatives
The Labour Program receives these reports and verifies them to ensure compliance with the reporting requirements. The individual reports are made public by the next year, after they have been analyzed and consolidated into an annual report. This annual report is tabled in Parliament by the Minister of Labour, as required under the Employment Equity Act.
Compliance audits
Under the Employment Equity Act, the Canadian Human Rights Commission is mandated to carry out compliance audits of Legislated Employment Equity Program and federal public-sector employers to determine if they have met their obligations under the Act.
The Labour Program provides guidance, advice and support material to Legislated Employment Equity Program employers to ensure effective implementation of employment equity in the workplace. The Minister of Labour is responsible for conducting employment equity compliance reviews of federal contractors. Advice is available to federal contractors covered under the Federal Contractors Program.
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