On April 4, 2022, we submitted a detailed and thorough set of comments to the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (CHRT) on the rules around pay equity complaints. All employees deserve the right to pay that is free from gender-based discrimination. Pay equity is also known as equal pay for work of equal value. That means if two different jobs contribute equal value to their employer's operations then the employees in those positions should receive equal pay.
The introduction of a new federal proactive pay equity legislation has been a valuable progressive step toward the elimination of gender-based discrimination in public and private federally-regulated workplaces. Although the Pay Equity Act and related regulations have been in effect since September 2021, there is a pressing need to design a set of flexible and effective rules surrounding pay equity proceedings before the CHRT.
We have carefully reviewed the CHRT’s draft rules of how pay equity cases are handled and developed a number of new proposals and amendments.
Our recommendations aim to set clear and transparent rules around how cases are handled and ensure that complaints are looked at within reasonable timelines. PIPSC also felt that having clearing rules around when refusals can be reconsidered was key to a fair process. We specifically propose several definitions of key concepts, clear rules for service and filing, as well as a new time calculation method. Our submission also includes new proposals on hearing adjournment rules, mediation during case management conferences and more reasonable timelines related to parties’ participation in inquiries to referrals. Finally, we propose specific procedural rules related to reconsideration requests intended to revoke or vary decisions or orders issued by the Tribunal.
We thank the Tribunal for this opportunity to present our views on an issue of significant importance to our members and to Canadians as a whole.