Andrea Sobko

The applicant hospital sought to validate its unilateral completion of a pay equity plan after negotiations with the respondent union reached an impasse.

The parties had signed Terms of Reference in 2006 to negotiate a new plan following an amalgamation.

The Tribunal held that the hospital was statutorily required under the Pay Equity Act to negotiate the plan with the bargaining agent and could not unilaterally implement it.

Finding that the parties' relationship was dysfunctional and further negotiations would be fruitless, the Tribunal ordered a Review Officer to prepare the pay equity plan pursuant to section 25(2)(a) of the Act.

The responding Participating Nursing Homes requested a stay of proceedings pending an appeal to the Court of Appeal regarding the use of the proxy method of comparison for pay equity maintenance.

The Pay Equity Hearings Tribunal declined to grant a stay at this stage, noting that the immediate next steps in the pay equity process—specifically the development and application of a gender-neutral comparison system (GNCS)—do not require the proxy methodology.

The Tribunal directed the parties to recommence negotiations and implementation of the GNCS, and to refer any substantive impasses to Review Services.