The Equal Pay Coalition welcomes today’s announcement that Ontario has passed the Pay Transparency Act.
“Pay transparency gives Ontario workers an important new tool to close the gender pay gap and enforce equal pay rights for part-time, seasonal and temporary agency workers”, says Coalition co-chair Jan Borowy.
“We are glad that the government heard the calls from the Coalition, labour, non-unionized workers and community groups to strengthen the law”, says Coalition co-chair Fay Faraday.
“This law is a strong beginning and we look forward to building strong reporting practices in the regulations.”
The law was strengthened through the public hearing process to ensure:
* employers in both the public and private sectors with 100 and more employees must file annual pay transparency reports disclosing their pay structures;
* to include clear deadlines for filing reports so employers with 250+ employees must file their first reports on 15 May 2020 and employers with 100-249 employees must file by 15 May 2021;
* no employers can be excluded from the law; and
* the law can be extended, by regulations, to smaller employers.
Ontario is the first Canadian jurisdiction to introduce a pay transparency law. This new Ontario law more closely resembles existing laws in the United Kingdom. Through the development of the regulations, the law may be strengthened.
“Pay transparency brings new accountability to the workplace and will help in the fight against discrimination”, says Borowy. “Women are done waiting and this law sends a important message to all employers that the gender pay gap is unacceptable.”
For more information, please contact: Fay Faraday co-Chair, Equal Pay Coalition:
fay.faraday@faradaylaw.com or Jan Borowy, co-Chair, Equal Pay Coalition:
jborowy@cavalluzzo.com; or info@equalpaycoalition.org.
Image credit: Jared Ong
