Pay equity maintenance evaluation: 7 mistakes to avoid

Every five years, employers covered by Quebec's Pay Equity Act must evaluate pay equity maintenance in their business. The goal is simple: make sure that changes since the last exercise have not recreated pay gaps between predominantly female and predominantly male jobs.

In practice, the maintenance evaluation is often treated as a formality, which leads to costly mistakes. Here are the seven most common mistakes and how to avoid them.

1. Not knowing your deadline

As the CNESST points out, the date by which the maintenance evaluation must be completed is specific to each business. It is based on the posting date of the last exercise, whether the initial exercise or the previous maintenance evaluation, and comes back every five years.

When the person who led the previous work has left the organization, this date is easily lost. Finding the posting date of your last exercise is therefore the very first step, ideally several months before the deadline.

2. Recording events incompletely

The core of the maintenance evaluation is recording, in chronological order, all events that may have affected pay equity since the last exercise. Depending on the business, these may include:

• the creation, elimination or merging of job classes;
• significant changes to the duties or responsibilities of a job;
• a restructuring or reorganization of work;
• changes to compensation, such as new pay scales, bonuses or benefits;
• the renewal of a collective agreement.

A missed event can hide a pay gap. Rebuilding five years of history at the last minute is the main source of errors: a log kept up to date over time makes the work much easier.

3. Looking only at base salary

Pay equity is not only about salary rates. The comparison covers compensation, which can include items such as bonuses or certain benefits with a monetary value. A bonus offered to a predominantly male job class, for example, can create a gap even if pay scales have not changed.

4. Overlooking the participation process

Since the 2019 amendments to the Act, an employer that decides to carry out the maintenance evaluation alone must, in certain situations, set up an employee participation process. This is the case, in particular, when employees covered by the evaluation are represented by a certified association, or when a pay equity committee was formed to establish the program.

This process includes providing information to and consulting employees. It must be completed no later than 60 days before the results are posted, and the posting must report on it. Neglecting it can make the evaluation non-compliant.

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5. Calculating adjustments from the wrong date

When a gap is found, pay adjustments are owed from the date of the event that created it, not from the posting date. That is why the posting must state the date on which each change occurred.

An event that occurred three years before the evaluation can therefore lead to three years of retroactive adjustments. Dating each event accurately is essential, both to calculate the amounts owed correctly and to avoid overestimating them.

6. Rushing the posting of results

The posting is not a mere formality. According to the CNESST, it must include, among other things:

• a summary of the approach used to evaluate maintenance;
• the list of changes that generated adjustments, with the date each change occurred, or a notice that no adjustment is required;
• the list of predominantly female job classes entitled to adjustments.

Employees then have a period to ask questions or make comments. Within 30 days after the 60th day of the posting, the employer must make a new posting that specifies the changes made or states that no change is needed. Adjustments are normally paid from this new posting.

7. Forgetting former employees and the follow-up

Retroactive adjustments may apply to people who no longer work for the business. The CNESST recommends planning ways to reach them, for example by keeping their contact information or asking current employees to pass the word along.

Finally, the maintenance evaluation is only complete once the DEMES has been filed and the documentation kept for at least six years. These documents may be requested during a CNESST audit.

Frequently asked questions

Who can carry out the maintenance evaluation?

The Act provides three options: the employer alone, a pay equity committee, or the employer jointly with the certified association. When the employer does it alone, it must check whether a participation process is mandatory in its case.

What if no gap is found?

The evaluation must still be posted. The posting then states that no adjustment is required, and the employer files its DEMES.

What if the deadline has already passed?

The evaluation should be carried out without delay. Adjustments remain owed from the date of the events, and a delay can increase the amounts to be paid, in addition to exposing the business to the consequences set out in the Act.

Does the maintenance evaluation depend on company size?

All businesses covered by the Act must evaluate maintenance every five years. The terms, including whether a committee is involved, depend on the business's situation. To learn more, read our article on obligations by company size.

In summary

A successful maintenance evaluation rests on three pillars: knowing your deadline, rigorously recording every event of the past five years and following the posting steps. The costliest mistakes almost always come from an incomplete history or poorly dated adjustments.

Is your deadline approaching or already past? Talk to an expert about your pay equity needs.

This article is provided for information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or professional advice. The rules surrounding the Pay Equity Act and the maintenance evaluation may change: for any specific situation, consult the CNESST or a qualified professional.

Sources: CNESST, Évaluation du maintien de l'équité salariale; CNESST, Afficher les résultats de l'évaluation du maintien; Éducaloi.