Public Sector Equitable Compensation Act (S.C. 2009, c. 2, s. 394)

Marginal note:Short title

1 This Act may be cited as the Public Sector Equitable Compensation Act.

Marginal note:Definitions

• 2 (1) The following definitions apply in this Act.

  bargaining agent

  bargaining agent means an employee organization that is certified by the Board as the bargaining agent for the employees in a bargaining unit. (agent négociateur)

  bargaining unit

  bargaining unit means a group of two or more employees that is determined by the Board to constitute a unit of employees appropriate for collective bargaining. (unité de négociation)

  Board

  Board means the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board referred to in subsection 4(1) of the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board Act. (Commission)

  collective agreement

  collective agreement means an agreement in writing, entered into under Part 1 of the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations Act between the employer and a bargaining agent, containing provisions respecting terms and conditions of employment and related matters. (convention collective)

  compensation

  compensation means any form of remuneration payable for work performed by an employee and includes

  • (a) salaries, commissions, vacation pay, severance pay and bonuses;

  • (b) payments in kind;

  • (c) employer contributions to pension funds or plans, long-term disability plans and all forms of health insurance plans; and

  • (d) any other advantage received directly or indirectly from the employer. (rémunération)

  employee

  employee means a person who is employed by an employer, other than a person who is

  • (a) appointed by the Governor in Council under an Act of Parliament to a statutory position described in that Act; or

  • (b) locally engaged outside Canada. (employé)

  employer

  employer means Her Majesty in right of Canada as represented by

  • (a) the Treasury Board, in the case of a department named in Schedule I to the Financial Administration Act or another portion of the federal public administration named in Schedule IV to that Act; and

  • (b) the separate agency, in the case of a portion of the federal public administration named in Schedule V to the Financial Administration Act. (employeur)

  female predominant

  female predominant, in relation to a job group or a job class, means a job group or job class, as the case may be, composed of at least 70% female employees. (à prédominance féminine)

  job class

  job class means two or more positions in the same job group that have similar duties and responsibilities, require similar qualifications, are part of the same compensation plan and are within the same range of salary rates. (catégorie d’emplois)

  job group

  job group has the meaning assigned by the regulations. (groupe d’emplois)

  non-unionized employee

  non-unionized employee means an employee who is not a member of a bargaining unit that is represented by a bargaining agent. (employé non syndiqué)

  prescribed

  prescribed means prescribed by regulation. (Version anglaise seulement)

  unionized employee

  unionized employee means an employee who is a member of a bargaining unit that is represented by a bargaining agent. (employé syndiqué)

• Marginal note:Royal Canadian Mounted Police

  (2) For greater certainty, members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police are employees for the purposes of this Act.

• Marginal note:Canadian Forces

  (3) For the purposes of this Act,

  • (a) officers and non-commissioned members of the Canadian Forces are deemed to be employees; and

  • (b) Her Majesty in right of Canada, as represented by the Treasury Board, is deemed to be the employer of those officers and members.

Marginal note:Obligations of employers and bargaining agents

• 3 (1) An employer shall, in respect of its non-unionized employees, take measures to provide them with equitable compensation in accordance with this Act. In the case of unionized employees, the employer and the bargaining agent shall take measures to provide those employees with equitable compensation in accordance with this Act.

• Marginal note:Notice to employees

  (2) Every employer shall post, in the prescribed manner, a notice setting out the text of subsection (1) and describing the rights employees have under this Act.

Marginal note:Equitable compensation assessment

• 4 (1) An equitable compensation assessment under this Act assesses, without gender bias, the value of work performed by employees in a job group or a job class and identifies, by taking into account the prescribed factors, whether an equitable compensation matter exists.

• Marginal note:Determining value

  (2) The criteria to be applied in assessing the value of the work performed by employees in a job group or a job class are

  • (a) the composite of the skill, effort and responsibility required in the performance of the work and the conditions under which the work is performed; and

  • (b) the employer’s recruitment and retention needs in respect of employees in that job group or job class, taking into account the qualifications required to perform the work and the market forces operating in respect of employees with those qualifications.

• Marginal note:Precision

  (3) Subject to the regulations, an equitable compensation assessment in respect of a job group or job class is to be conducted having regard to

  • (a) with the exception of a job group or job class described in paragraph (d), in the case of a job group or job class within a portion of the federal public administration, including a department, described in paragraph (a) of the definition employer in subsection 2(1), only job groups or job classes, as the case may be, within any of those portions of the federal public administration, other than job groups or job classes described in paragraph (d);

  • (b) in the case of a job group or job class within a separate agency named in Schedule V to the Financial Administration Act, only job groups or job classes, as the case may be, within the separate agency;

  • (c) in the case of a job group or job class within the Canadian Forces, only job groups or job classes, as the case may be, within the Canadian Forces that consist of officers and non-commissioned members of the Canadian Forces; and

  • (d) in the case of a job group or job class within the Royal Canadian Mounted Police that consists of members of that organization, only job groups or job classes, as the case may be, within that organization that consist of such members.

• Marginal note:Equitable compensation matter

  (4) An equitable compensation matter exists in respect of a job group or a job class if an equitable compensation assessment determines, after taking into account the prescribed factors referred to in subsection (1), that equitable compensation is not being provided to employees in that job group or job class.

• Marginal note:Regulations

  (5) The Governor in Council may make regulations

  • (a) respecting, for the purposes of subsection (1), the conducting of an equitable compensation assessment;

  • (b) respecting, for the purposes of paragraph (2)(a), what constitutes the skill, effort and responsibility required in the performance of work and the conditions under which the work is performed;

  • (c) respecting, for the purposes of paragraph (2)(b), what constitutes qualifications, and how an employer’s recruitment and retention needs are to be determined; and

  • (d) restricting, for the purposes of subsection (3), the job groups or job classes to which an equitable compensation assessment is to have regard.

Marginal note:Determining whether each job group is female predominant

5 Within each of the periods that is prescribed in respect of a job group, every employer that has non-unionized employees in that job group shall determine whether that job group is female predominant and, depending on the determination, comply with section 6 or 7.

Marginal note:Determination — no female predominant job groups

• 6 (1) If an employer that has non-unionized employees determines that there are no female predominant job groups that contain at least the prescribed number of employees, the employer shall post, in the prescribed manner, for at least 90 days, a notice to that effect setting out the prescribed information.

• Marginal note:Dissatisfaction with employer’s determination

  (2) A non-unionized employee who is dissatisfied with his or her employer’s determination in the notice because the employee believes that he or she is part of a job group that contains at least the prescribed number of employees that is female predominant may, in the prescribed manner, so notify the employer within the prescribed period after the day on which the notice referred to in subsection (1) is first posted.

• Marginal note:Employer’s response

  (3) Within the prescribed period after the day on which the notice under subsection (2) is given, the employer shall consider the issues raised in the notice and provide the employee with a response in writing.

Marginal note:Determination — existence of female predominant job group

• 7 (1) If an employer that has non-unionized employees determines that a job group that contains at least the prescribed number of employees is female predominant, the employer shall

  • (a) determine, by conducting an equitable compensation assessment, whether any equitable compensation matters exist involving non-unionized employees in that job group and, if there are, prepare a plan to resolve them within a reasonable time; and

  • (b) provide non-unionized employees in that job group, in the prescribed manner, with a report that

    • (i) sets out a summary of the activities conducted by the employer under paragraph (a) and of consultations, if any, carried out under that paragraph,

    • (ii) describes how the equitable compensation assessment in respect of that job group was conducted,

    • (iii) states whether or not the employer has determined that an equitable compensation matter exists involving non-unionized employees in that job group and, if there is, describing the matter, and

    • (iv) sets out the plan prepared under paragraph (a), if one was prepared.

• Marginal note:Right of non-unionized employee

  (2) A non-unionized employee of that job group may, in the prescribed manner, within the prescribed period after the day on which the employer provides the employee with the report, request that the employer take appropriate steps to provide him or her with equitable compensation within a reasonable time if the employee is of the opinion that he or she will not receive equitable compensation because his or her employer has not prepared a plan under paragraph (1)(a) or, if one was prepared, the plan, in the employee’s opinion, does not provide for equitable compensation within a reasonable time.

• Marginal note:Response

  (3) Within the prescribed period after the day on which the request is made, the employer shall consider the matters raised in it and respond to the employee in writing. The employer shall indicate in the response whether it intends to take any measure as a result of the request and

  • (a) if so, the period during which that measure is to be implemented; or

  • (b) if not, the reasons for not doing so.

Marginal note:Implementation of plan

• 8 (1) An employer that has non-unionized employees and that provides a report under paragraph 7(1)(b) or as a result of an order made under this Act — or under a response given under subsection 7(3) or 9(3) — that contains a plan shall implement the plan in accordance with its terms.

• Marginal note:When obligation ceases

  (2) Subsection (1) ceases to apply in respect of a plan if the employer subsequently provides another plan under this Act that deals with the same job group or job class, as the case may be.

Marginal note:Request concerning equitable compensation — job class

• 9 (1) A non-unionized employee of an employer may, in the prescribed manner, within the prescribed period, request that the employer take appropriate steps to provide him or her with equitable compensation within a reasonable time if the employee has reasonable grounds to believe

  • (a) that he or she is a member of a female predominant job class; and

  • (b) that an equitable compensation assessment conducted in respect of that job class would lead to the identification of an equitable compensation matter.

• Marginal note:Information that must be provided

  (2) The employee who makes the request shall, in the prescribed manner, provide the employer with a statement that

  • (a) describes the female predominant job class of which the employee alleges he or she is a member; and

  • (b) sets out the reasonable grounds that the employee has to believe the matters referred to in paragraphs (1)(a) and (b).

• Marginal note:Response

  (3) Within the prescribed period after the day on which the request is made, the employer shall consider the matters raised in it and respond to the employee in writing. The employer shall indicate in the response whether it intends to take any measure as a result of the request and

  • (a) if so, the period during which that measure is to be implemented; or

  • (b) if not, the reasons for not doing so.

Marginal note:Failure to comply

10 A non-unionized employee may, in a form acceptable to the Board, file a complaint with the Board if the employee is of the opinion that his or her employer has failed to comply with section 5 or subsection 6(1) or (3), 7(1) or (3), 8(1) or 9(3).

Marginal note:Dissatisfaction with employer’s response

• 11 (1) A non-unionized employee who is provided with a response under subsection 9(3) may, in a form acceptable to the Board, within the prescribed period after the response is provided, file a complaint with the Board if

  • (a) the employee is dissatisfied with any matter in the response; and

  • (b) the employee has reasonable grounds to believe

    • (i) that he or she is a member of a female predominant job class, and

    • (ii) that an equitable compensation assessment conducted in respect of that job class would lead to the identification of an equitable compensation matter.

• Marginal note:Information that must be provided

  (2) The complaint must

  • (a) describe the female predominant job class of which the employee alleges he or she is a member; and

  • (b) set out the reasonable grounds that the employee has to believe the matters referred to in subparagraphs (1)(b)(i) and (ii).

• Marginal note:Accompanying documents

  (3) The complaint must be accompanied by a copy of

  • (a) the employee’s request made under subsection 9(1); and

  • (b) the employer’s response given under subsection 9(3).