Your right to pay equity

Pay equity must be respected in all workplaces. This means employers must ensure they fulfil their obligations in accordance with the Pay Equity Act. The CNESST supports employers in fulfilling their obligations. It also helps workers ensure their rights are respected. As a worker, you also have a role to play.

Your employer's obligations

Your employer has several obligations with respect to pay equity.

First, they must calculate the number of workers in their company to find out the annual average. When this average reaches 10 or more workers, they must:

• do an initial pay equity exercise and inform all staff members by posting the results
• do a pay equity audit in the company every 5 years and post the results
• file the Employer's pay equity statement to declare to the CNESST whether or not the work has been completed

To find out more, see the quick reference tool: pay equity obligations intended for employers.

What pay equity work means

Pay equity work:

• assesses and compares female jobs predominantly or traditionally held by women with those predominantly or traditionally held by men
• adjusts the wages of female jobs upwards if wage differences are found

Every 5 years, your employer does a pay equity audit to ensure that new wage gaps have not been created over the years. If gaps exist, they must be corrected through pay adjustments as of the date on which the gap was created.

If you are in a female job, whether you are a man or a woman, you may receive a pay adjustment as a result of pay equity work done by your employer.

You will find the details of the procedure and the result of the calculation of the pay adjustments in the postings your employer is required to make.

To find out about the status of pay equity in your workplace, please contact us.

Your role in pay equity

Even if it is your employer who has to achieve pay equity, you can actively participate in the process in your workplace. You can:

• provide your employer with information about your tasks to help them assess your job
• become a member of a pay equity committee or take part in a participation process organized by your employer
• read the various postings of results that your employer or the pay equity committee is required to make and provide comments or ask for additional information
• exercise one of the recourses provided for in the Act by filing a pay equity complaint:
  • pay equity work complaint
  • complaint for reprisals relating to pay equity
  • prohibited conduct complaint
  • complaint concerning a pay equity dispute in the event of a disagreement in a pay equity committee

If the company you work for has fewer than 10 workers and you think that your pay equity rights are not being respected, you may file a complaint.

By exercising your rights and participating in pay equity work, you are contributing to the fair recognition of your work and that of your coworkers.

Simulate pay equity work with MonÉquitéSalariale citizen access

Are you a member of a pay equity committee or a worker who is interested in pay equity? Simulate pay equity work in the citizen access section of the MonÉquitéSalariale online solution.

This will help you understand your employer's work and the application of the Pay Equity Act.

To access the citizen section of the MonÉquitéSalariale online solution, you must have an account with the Government Authentication Service and log in.

Please note that citizen access will not allow you to generate postings of results or share simulations with another user. Your employer has a different type of access to the MonÉquitéSalariale online solutionwhich allows them to do their pay equity work.