Pay Transparency Act, 2018 Flynn, Hon. Kevin Daniel Minister of Labour — Bill 203 (41st Parliament, 2nd Session)

Bill 203, 41-2

Ontario — Bills

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Bill 203, Pay Transparency Act, 2018

Flynn, Hon. Kevin Daniel Minister of Labour

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Original

[41] Bill 203 Original (PDF)

EXPLANATORY

NOTE

The

Pay Transparency Act, 2018 is enacted. The Act

establishes requirements relating to the disclosure of information about the

compensation of employees and prospective employees.

Section

4 prohibits employers from seeking compensation history information about an applicant

for a position.

Section 5 requires employers to include in any publicly advertised

job posting information about the expected compensation or range of

compensation for the position.

Section 6 requires prescribed employers to

prepare pay transparency reports that include information about the employer,

the employer's workforce composition and differences in compensation in the

employer's workforce with respect to gender and other prescribed

characteristics.

Section

7 is an anti-reprisal provision that prohibits employers, or persons acting on their

behalf, from intimidating, dismissing or otherwise penalizing employees for, among

other things, making inquiries about the employee's compensation, disclosing

their compensation or asking the employer to comply with the Act or the regulations.

Complaints by employees that an employer has contravened the anti-reprisal provision

may be dealt with by arbitration or by filing a complaint with the Ontario

Labour Relations Board.

Sections

8 to 11 address the powers and duties of compliance officers who may be

appointed to enforce the Act. Compliance officers may conduct compliance

audits, and if an officer believes that a person has contravened a provision of

this Act or the regulations, the officer may issue a notice of contravention to

the person under

section 12. Sections 13 to 15 specify the procedures that

apply for disputing a notice of contravention before the Ontario Labour

Relations Board and enforcing the notice in a court.

Miscellaneous

provisions are included addressing limitation periods and other matters, and

related regulation-making powers are added.

Bill 203 2018

Act respecting transparency of pay in employment

contents

Interpretation, Application, Etc.

Definitions

Minister

responsible

Crown

bound

Compensation History

Compensation

history

Compensation Range Information

Compensation

range information

Pay Transparency Reports

Pay

transparency reports

Anti-reprisal

Anti-reprisal

Compliance

Compliance

officers

Powers

and duties of officers

Officers

not compellable

Compliance

audits

Notice

of contravention

Review

of notice of contravention

When

no decision after six months

Filing

of notice of contravention

Miscellaneous

Limitation

period

Persons

from Board not compellable

Service

of documents

Regulations

Regulations

Commencement and

Short Title

Commencement

Short

title

Her

Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the

Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

Interpretation, Application, Etc.

Definitions

1 In this Act,

"applicant"

means an individual who applies for employment with an employer, other than an

individual who is an employee of the employer at the time of applying; ("candidat")

"Board"

means the Ontario Labour Relations Board; ("Commission")

"compensation"

means all payments and benefits paid or provided to or for the benefit of a

person who performs functions that entitle the person to be paid a fixed or

ascertainable amount; ("rémunération")

"employee"

has the same meaning as in the Employment Standards Act,

2000 ; ("employé")

"employer"

has the same meaning as in the Employment Standards Act,

2000 ; ("employeur")

"Minister"

means the member of the Executive Council to whom responsibility for the

administration of this Act is assigned or transferred under the Executive Council Act ; ("ministre")

"Ministry"

means the ministry of the Minister; ("ministère")

"prescribed"

means prescribed by the regulations; ("prescrit")

"publicly

advertised job posting" means an external job posting for a specific job that

an employer advertises to the general public in any manner, but for greater

certainty does not include recruitment campaigns, general help wanted signs or

positions that are only advertised to existing employees of the employer;

("annonce publique de poste")

"regulations"

means the regulations made under this Act. ("règlement")

Minister

responsible

(1) The Minister is responsible for the administration

of this Act.

Policies

(2) The

Minister may establish policies respecting the

interpretation, administration

and enforcement of this Act.

Delegation

of powers

(3) Where,

under this Act or the regulations, any power or duty is granted to or vested in

the Minister or the Deputy Minister of the Ministry, the Minister or Deputy

Minister may, in writing, delegate that power or duty from time to time to any

employee in the Ministry, subject to such limitations, restrictions, conditions

and requirements as the Minister or Deputy Minister may set out in the

delegation.

Crown

bound

3 This Act binds the Crown.

Compensation History

Compensation

history

(1) No employer shall seek compensation

history information about an applicant by any means, whether personally or

through an agent.

Unprompted

disclosure

(2) Nothing

in this

section prohibits an applicant from voluntarily and without prompting

disclosing compensation history information to an employer or an employer's

agent.

Comparable

compensation

(3) Nothing

in this

section prohibits an employer from seeking information about the ranges

of compensation or aggregate compensation provided for positions comparable to

the position for which the applicant is applying.

Use

of information

(4) Where

an applicant has made a disclosure of compensation history information described

in subsection (2) or the employer has obtained information described in

subsection (3), nothing in this

section prohibits the employer from considering

or relying on such information in determining compensation for the applicant.

Exception,

public information

(5) This

section does not apply to compensation history information that is publicly

available.

Compensation Range Information

Compensation

range information

5 Every employer who advertises a publicly advertised job posting

shall include in the posting information about the expected compensation for

the position or the range of expected compensation for the position.

Pay Transparency Reports

Pay

transparency reports

(1) Every prescribed employer shall, with

respect to each prescribed reporting period, prepare a pay transparency report

that complies with the requirements in the regulations and that contains the

prescribed information relating to the employer, the employer's workforce

composition and differences in compensation in the employer's workforce with

respect to gender and other prescribed characteristics.

Same

(2) The

prescribed employer shall submit the pay transparency report to the Ministry by

the prescribed time, and in accordance with any prescribed requirements.

Posting

(3) The

prescribed employer shall post the pay transparency report online or in at

least one conspicuous place in every workplace of the employer where it is

likely to come to the attention of employees in that workplace.

Publication

(4) The

Ministry may publish, or otherwise make available to the public, the pay

transparency reports submitted under subsection (2).

Internet

publication

(5) Authority

to publish under subsection (4) includes authority to publish on the Internet.

Anti-reprisal

Anti-reprisal

(1) No employer or person acting on behalf of

an employer shall intimidate, dismiss or otherwise penalize an employee or

threaten to do so because the employee has,

(

a) made

inquiries to the employer about the employee's compensation;

(

b) disclosed

the employee's compensation to another employee;

(

c) made

inquiries about a pay transparency report made under

section 6, or about information

contained in such a report;

(

d) given

information about the employer's compliance or non-compliance with the

requirements of this Act or the regulations to the Ministry; or

(

e) asked

the employer to comply with this Act or the regulations.

Arbitration

(2) Where

an employee complains that an employer or person acting on behalf of an

employer has contravened subsection (1), the employee may either,

(

a) have

the matter dealt with by final and binding settlement by arbitration under a

collective agreement, where one is in place; or

(

b) file

a complaint with the Board, in which case any rules governing the practice and

procedure of the Board apply, with all necessary modifications, to the

complaint.

Board

may inquire

(3) The

Board may inquire into any complaint filed under clause (2) (b), and where it

does so, the following provisions of the Labour Relations

Act, 1995 apply, with any necessary modifications, for the purposes of

this Act:

Section

96, except subsection (5).

Section

110, including, for greater certainty, the power to make rules under subsection

110 (18).

Section

Section

Section

Onus

of proof

(4) On

an inquiry by the Board into a complaint filed under clause (2) (b), the burden

of proof that an employer or person acting on behalf of an employer did not act

contrary to subsection (1) lies upon the employer or the person acting on

behalf of the employer.

Board

may substitute penalty

(5) Where,

on an inquiry by the Board into a complaint filed under clause (2) (b), the

Board determines that an employee has been discharged or otherwise disciplined

by an employer for cause and the contract of employment or the collective

agreement, as the case may be, does not contain a specific penalty for the

infraction, the Board may substitute such other penalty for the discharge or

discipline as seems just and reasonable in all the circumstances.

Jurisdiction

when complaint by public servant

(6) For

greater certainty, the Board shall exercise jurisdiction under this

section

when a complaint filed under clause (2) (

b) is in respect of an employee who is

a public servant within the meaning of the Public Service

of Ontario Act, 2006 .

Exception

(7) Despite

subsection (2), a complaint by a person who is subject to a rule or code of

discipline under the Police Services Act in

relation to an alleged contravention of subsection (1) shall be dealt with

under that Act.

Compliance

Compliance

officers

(1) Such persons as are considered necessary

to enforce this Act and the regulations may be appointed under

Part III of the Public Service of Ontario Act, 2006 as compliance

officers.

Certificate

of appointment

(2) The

Deputy Minister of the Ministry shall issue a certificate of appointment bearing

the Deputy Minister's signature or a facsimile of it to every compliance

officer.

Powers

and duties of officers

(1) A compliance officer may exercise the

powers conferred upon compliance officers under this Act and shall perform the

duties imposed upon compliance officers under this Act.

Officers

to follow policies

(2) A

compliance officer shall follow any policies established by the Minister under

subsection 2 (2).

Hearing

not required

(3) A

compliance officer is not required to hold a hearing in exercising any power or

making any decision under this Act.

Officers

not compellable

(1) A compliance officer is not a competent or

compellable witness in a civil proceeding respecting any information given or

obtained, statements made or received, or records or other things produced or

received under this Act except for the purpose of carryin

Document details

Collection	Ontario — Bills
Citation	Bill 203, 41-2
Type	bill
Volume / chapter	p41 s2 bill 203 html
Language	en
Format	html
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	f4a56cc8b356ca69985df94714ec2cf0f4d8b9b0

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