Employers with unique requirements

Option 1: You belong to a group of employers

Group of employers

A group of employers is two or more employers who are recognized by the Pay Equity Commissioner as a single employer. Employers that are part of a group work together on their pay equity plan.

As an example, employer A and employer B are small firms with less than 100 employees in the grain handling industry. Employer A and employer B have similar compensation practices and positions with similar duties and responsibilities.

They can decide to file a group of employers' applications to the Pay Equity Commissioner to be recognized as a single employer.

Forming a group of employers

Should two or more employers wish to form a group, they must apply to the Pay Equity Commissioner to have the group of employers recognized as a single employer.

Only federally regulated private sector employers who are covered by the Pay Equity Act can apply.

When reviewing an application, the Pay Equity Commissioner may recognize a group of employers as a single employer if all of the following criteria are met:

• the employers are part of the same industry
• they have similar compensation practices
• they have positions with similar duties and responsibilities

Once a group of employers is recognized by the Pay Equity Commissioner:

• Employers in the group have a collective responsibility to establish and maintain a pay equity plan for all employees of employers in the group.
• Employers in the group are individually responsible for posting both the draft and final versions of the pay equity plan in their workplace. They must do so on the same day.
• Employers are individually responsible for posting any notices required by the Pay Equity Act.
• Employers are individually responsible for implementing any increases in compensation owed to their employees.

Requirements for groups of employers

• Employee count: You must aggregate the total number of employees across all employers within the group.
• Pay equity committee: You must set up a single pay equity committee collectively if you have:
  • 100 or more employees
  • 10 to 99 employees if some or all are unionized
• Posting the final pay equity plan: You must post the final pay equity plan in the workplace within three years from the date the Pay Equity Commissioner determined the group became subject to the Act.
• Increasing compensation: You must individually implement increases in compensation, not as a group.
• Other posting requirements: You must individually fulfill posting requirements, for example:
  • notice indicating the employer is part of a group
  • notice that the employer is beginning the pay equity exercise
  • draft pay equity plan and “Notice - Right to provide comments on the draft pay equity plan” (these must be posted by all employers in the group on the same day)
  • final pay equity plan and “Notice - Increasing compensation” (these must be posted by all employers in the group on the same day)

Pay equity timelines for groups of employers

If the application is approved, a group of employers will have some timelines that differ from an employer that is not part of a group of employers.

If the pay equity Commissioner recognizes a group of employers as a single employer, they become subject to the Act on a date chosen by the Commissioner.

This means that timelines concerning the posting of the final version of the pay equity plan, the increases in compensation, pay equity maintenance and the filing of the group of employers' annual statement will be calculated from the date chosen by the Commissioner.

For more information, consult Pay equity dates and deadlines.