Guideline # 3

Pay Equity Posting and Achievement
Dates for Private Sector Employers

This guideline applies to private sector employers, their employees and unions representing employees in private sector workplaces. All public sector employers are covered by the Pay Equity Act and have the same posting and achievement deadlines regardless of the number of employees.

The number of employees is important for private sector employers because it determines:

The Number of Employees

The number of employees is the count of all an employer's employees in Ontario and determines coverage and deadlines for all of the employer's pay equity plans. For private sector companies in existence January 1, 1988, the number of employees is the average number of employees employed from January 1 to December 31, 1987.

Definition of an Employee

Employees are all full-time, part-time, contract and casual employees, except students working during their vacation period. The actual number of persons employed, rather than full time equivalents must be counted. Employers should interpret "employee" broadly.

Determining the number of employees

The average number of employees can be calculated in several ways. The method used must provide a fair representation of the actual number of employees and should recognize employment fluctuations throughout the year. For example, in a seasonal business where a large number of employees work only in June, July and August, an average based solely on January and December employment figures would not reflect the higher summer payroll. For employers whose workforces do not fluctuate, an average based on employees working in January and in December may be representative.

The following are some examples of ways of determining the average number of employees:

Instead of calculating an average, an employer may choose to use the largest number of employees employed at any point during 1987.

Changes in Numbers of Employees Since January 1, 1988

There are four principles that apply to changes in the number of employees since January 1, 1988:

What employers are covered by the Act?

The Pay Equity Act covers all private sector employers that had 10 or more employees as of December 31, 1987. Employers who started with fewer than 10 employees are covered as soon as the 10th one is hired.

What employers are required to post a pay equity plan?

All employers with an average of 100 or more employees in 1987 were required to post pay equity plans. Employers with 10 - 99 employees could have chosen to post pay equity plans to realize the advantage of phasing in adjustments.

What are the timeframes for employers required or choosing to post pay equity plans?

Employers who posted pay equity plans are allowed to phase in adjustments each year by spending a minimum of 1% of the previous year's payroll to fund pay equity adjustments. The mandatory dates for posting pay equity plans and for making first adjustments are based on the number of employees as follows:

Average No. of Employees in 1987	Posting of Pay Equity Plans	First Pay Equity Adjustment Dates
500 or more	January 1, 1990	January 1, 1991
100 to 499	January 1, 1991	January 1, 1992
50 to 99	January 1, 1992	January 1, 1993
10 to 49	January 1, 1993	January 1, 1994

Retroactive adjustments are calculated based on the first adjustment date regardless of when the plan was actually posted. There is no mandatory date for achieving pay equity in the private sector, except those employers with 10 to 99 employees who did not post pay equity plans must achieve immediately.

What employers were not required to post pay equity plans?

Employers with an average of 10 to 99 employees in 1987 were given the option of posting pay equity plans, but were not required to do so. These employers no longer have this option. They must achieve pay equity according to the timelines in the following chart:

Average No. of Employees in 1987	Mandatory Achievement Date for Job to Job Plans	Mandatory Achievement Date for Proportional Value
50 to 99	January 1, 1993	July 1, 1993
10 to 49	January 1, 1993	January 1, 1994

Employers who are late achieving pay equity must make adjustments retroactive to the mandatory achievement dates as shown above.

New employers and employers who hired their tenth employee after January 1, 1988, are not required to post pay equity plans. They must achieve pay equity immediately or on the day they hired their tenth employee. New employers who do not achieve pay equity on their start up date are required to make retroactive adjustments to this date.

What are the proportional value timeframes?

Employers who were unable to find male job classes of equal value for all female job classes using the job-to-job method of comparison must use the proportional value method of comparison. Pay equity plans must be amended and reposted to show proportional value comparisons. The proportional value timeframes for employers who posted are based on the number of employees as follows:

Average No. of Employees in 1987	Posting of Amended Pay Equity Plans	First Pay Equity Adjustment Dates
500 or more	January 1, 1994	January 1, 1993
100 to 499	January 1, 1994	January 1, 1993
50 to 99	January 1, 1994	January 1, 1993
10 to 49	January 1, 1994	January 1, 1994

Employers who did not post were required to achieve pay equity immediately and must make all adjustments retroactive to January 1, 1994.

Subsection 1(1)	Defines employee, establishment.
Subsection 1(4)	Contains the method of calculating the number of employees in Ontario.
Subsection 3	Defines the size of employer based on the number of employees in order to determine whom the Act covers.
Subsection 11	Defines which employers must post pay equity plans.
Section 13	Sets out the details of preparing pay equity plans and scheduling pay equity adjustments.
Section 18-21	Sets out the choices available to employers with 10 to 99 employees regarding posting pay equity plans.
Section 21.7	Specifies when an employer should post a pay equity plan using the proportional value comparison method.
Section 21.10	Sets out the schedule for first proportional value adjustments.