“Salary competitive.”

Once a staple of job postings, this phrase has suddenly become not only obsolete but illegal in much of Canada. In the past decade, seven jurisdictions have adopted so-called pay transparency laws requiring employers to list specific salary information in job postings. Where they exist, pay transparency laws also ban employers from asking job applicants about their own pay history or retaliating against applicants or employees for asking about or discussing their pay with co-workers. Here’s a briefing on what pay transparency laws are all about and the seven things you must do to comply with them.

Step. 1. Know Your Jurisdiction’s Pay Transparency Requirements

Pay transparency laws are currently in effect in British Columbia, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, and the Federal jurisdiction. It’s only a matter of time before other provinces follow suit. Newfoundland has also passed pay transparency legislation but not yet proclaimed it effective.

Step 2. Post Pay Information in Job Ads

Six of the seven current pay transparency statutes (the Federal jurisdiction is the lone exception) require employers to list the expected pay amount or pay range in publicly advertised job postings for the position subject to limited exceptions. In BC, publicly advertised job posting is defined broadly as including most forms of advertising to the public. By contrast, some provinces make exceptions for recruiting campaigns, general help wanted signs, positions advertised only to a company’s current employees, and, in Ontario, certain positions outside the province.

Step 3. Disclose AI & Job Vacancy Information in Ontario

While salary disclosure requirements overlap, there are some important differences in Ontario:

• Mandatory salary information in job postings applies only to companies that employ 25 or more employees and positions that pay less than $200,000.
• The posting must include a statement disclosing whether the posted position is or isn’t for an existing vacancy.
• If applicable, employers must also disclose in the posting how they use artificial intelligence (AI) to screen, assess, or select applicants for the posted position.

Step 4. Refrain from Asking Job Applicants about their Pay History

Pay transparency laws also ban employers, whether personally or through an agent or third party, from asking or seeking information about how much money applicants made at their previous jobs. While keeping employers from finding out about pay history actually reduces transparency, it promotes gender-based pay equity. Explanation: Women generally make 80 cents on the dollar as compared to men for identical work. So, allowing employers to factor pay history into a new employee’s compensation perpetuates inequities. Bans on employer inquiries about pay history don’t apply to publicly available information. Nor do they prohibit:

• Job applicants from disclosing their own pay history voluntarily.
• Employers from seeking general information about pay level or range for positions comparable to the one the applicant is applying for.
• Employers from using the information they gather in accordance with the above two bullets to determine the applicant’s compensation.

Step 5. Don’t Retaliate Against Employees for Asking About or Discussing Pay

Pay transparency laws ban employers or their agents from prohibiting or taking adverse action against employees for discussing or disclosing their pay to co-workers. Other activities protected from retaliation include:

• Asking questions about their own pay or company pay policies.
• Seeking access to the company’s annual pay transparency reports, if they’re required.
• Engaging in pay transparency-related whistleblower activities, such as by reporting the company’s noncompliance to government officials.
• Asking the company to comply with the pay transparency laws.

Step 6. Prepare Required Annual Pay Transparency Reports

Pay transparency laws of four jurisdictions—Federal, BC, New Brunswick, and Newfoundland—require certain large (typically 100 or more employees) private sector businesses, known as “reporting employers,” to generate annual reports listing detailed information about their employees’ pay by gender, race, ethnicity, age, and other personal classifications. Reporting employers must post their annual pay transparency reports on their corporate websites and make them readily accessible to employees.  There are specific rules regarding how employers collect the required data, the report format, the information it must contain, and to whom it must be submitted.

Step 7. Provide Follow Up to Interviewees in Ontario

In Ontario, employers must provide applicants who interview for a publicly advertised job posting information about whether a hiring decision has been made within 45 days of the most recent interview date.

Takeaway

The best way to ensure compliance is to implement a written HR policy that provides for carrying out each of the above seven measures required by pay transparency laws. You can use the template on the HR Insider website to create your own pay transparency policy.