Template letter for the USW initial pay equity disclosure request

To: HR counterpart

Date: Dear ____________;

Re:  Steps to implement the Pay Equity Act and USW Initial Disclosure request

As you are aware, the new federal Pay Equity Act requires that every employer establish and maintain a pay equity plan and the plan must be posted no later than Sept. 3, 2024. The Act requires that a draft of that pay equity plan is posted in the workplace no later than July 3, 2024, for employees’ comment.

To ensure the work of the Act is completed in a timely way, I write to request that you agree to meet with the USW and other unions no later than Sept. xx, 2023 at the first Pay Equity Committee meeting.   

Section 16 of the Actrequires that the company establish a joint Pay Equity Committee with the USW to develop the new pay equity plan. We can advise that the USW is in the process of selecting its members for the Pay Equity Committee consistent with s. 19 of the Act and will provide you with those names shortly. As the USW assigned staff representative, I will assist the USW committee members as required and in a non-voting capacity.  

At the same time, to assist the committee’s work, we feel that it is prudent to set out a Terms of Reference to guide the committee with the various tasks ahead. In light of s. 22 (2) of the Act, it is important to confirm the various measures to support the work of the committee. I attach a copy of the USW’s proposed terms and we would appreciate a discussion with you regarding the terms as soon as possible.

The USW is fully aware that the Act’s deadline is fast approaching, and the committee will have a great deal of work to do to ensure that the purpose of the Act is fulfilled and systemic discrimination in compensation practices are redressed.   

Pursuant to section 23 (1) of the Act, we write to request disclosure of the initial group of documents relevant to the pay equity exercise. We make this request at this stage to begin our preparation work for the committee and to ensure the most efficient and expeditious negotiation of the pay equity plan. We appreciate that the Pay Equity Committee will require further documents through the negotiation of the pay equity plan.

We request the following relevant documents to the initial discussions in the pay equity process as required by the Act:

1. Up-to-date organizational charts for all departments and units at the company that will fall within the scope of the pay equity plan.  
2. Complete and up-to-date list of employees in the USW bargaining unit inclusive of name, identification number, status, seniority date, home address, classification, location and confirmed rate of pay.
3. Collective agreements for all trade unions with bargaining units at the company.
4. An up-to-date and current list of:
   1. Job titles for all positions that fall within the scope of the pay equity plan.  
   1. the number of incumbents in each of those positions.
   1. The initial identification of the current gender of the incumbents working in each of the above positions. The committee will need to review the gender incumbency of the positions. Gather this important information as soon as possible.
5. Current Job/Position descriptions for all positions for the above positions listed in iv. Where such a position description does not exist, the most recent job posting describing the duties and responsibilities of the job.
6. Up-to-date and current Occupation Codes for the above titles/positions listed in iv.
7. Policies and procedures related to specific positions above listed in iv. (skills, efforts, responsibilities and working conditions).
8. Any training manuals for the above positions listed in iv.
9. Physical demand analysis for the above positions listed in iv.
10. Any and all current compensation policies which apply to employees, both union and non-union, who fall within the scope of the pay equity plan. This request includes copies of the benefits and pension policies.
11. All compensation terms for non-union employees who will fall within the scope of the pay equity plan.
12. Job vacancy data regarding positions that will fall within the scope of the pay equity plan.
13. The 2022 Employment Equity Act and pay transparency reports to Labour Canada.
14. Prior job evaluation systems or programs relied upon by the company to set the wage schedules for any and all positions which will fall within the scope of the pay equity plan.
15. Any and all consultants’ reports (historic, current and/or market-based) which analyze the employers’ compensation practices and/or prior job evaluation plans for the positions that fall with the scope of the pay equity plan.

We request that you please provide these documents no later than Sept. XX, 2023.

In the event you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me directly.

Yours sincerely,

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