Pay Equity Compliance Checklist Tool

The federal government, Ontario, and Québec have adopted pay equity laws requiring employers in both the public and private sectors to take proactive measures to eliminate gender-based pay differences and ensure that men and women receive equal pay for work of equal value. Such legislation is also in the pipeline in several provinces, including New Brunswick.

Pay equity Acts also require employers to develop a pay equity plan to identify job classes, determine the value of the work those classes perform, compare compensation to identify gender-based pay caps, and increase pay for women to eliminate those gaps. Employers must continually review their plans and ensure that pay gaps don’t reemerge. In some jurisdictions, employers must form special pay equity committees that include employee and union representation and submit annual pay equity reports to the government and post them in the workplace.

Although it hasn’t enacted pay equity legislation, British Columbia imposes similar types of obligations on employers via pay transparency laws.

Instructions: If you’re in Ontario or Québec or are subject to federal employment laws, downloadable checklists are available on the HRInsider site by clicking on the jurisdiction applicable to you. If you’re in BC or subject to multiple pay equity laws, use the blended checklist available below.