Pay Equity Hearings Tribunal
PEHT Case No: 1770-17-PE
ComFact Skills On Demand Corporation, Applicant v Pay Equity Office, Respondent
BEFORE: Roslyn McGilvery, Vice-Chair, William Cook and Irene Harris, Members
DECISION OF THE TRIBUNAL: February 20, 2018
This is an application under the Pay Equity Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.7 as amended (the “Act”) in respect of an Order issued by Review Officer Risa Caplan (the “Review Officer”) on September 27, 2017 ordering the applicant ComFact Skills on Demand Corporation to provide certain information, including payroll records.
The first issue to determine on a preliminary basis is the extent to which the Review Officer possessed the authority to order the applicant to provide the documents in question in the circumstances of this case. The Tribunal will convene a teleconference hearing to hear the parties’ legal arguments respecting this issue. The parties should be prepared to support their arguments as to whether or not a review officer possesses such authority with specific references to the relevant statutory provisions and case law. At this time, the Tribunal will not consider the issue of whether ComFact Skills on Demand Corporation and certain other businesses should be considered one employer for the purposes of pay equity since this issue cannot be determined on a preliminary basis in the absence of an evidentiary foundation. Therefore, for the purposes of this preliminary matter, the parties must focus their arguments on whether the Review Officer possessed the legal authority to make the Order in the first place.
If the applicant is still pursuing its privacy argument, the Tribunal will also address this argument during the teleconference. The applicant must be prepared to provide the Tribunal with relevant legal authorities to support its claim that it need not comply with the Review Officer’s request for information on the basis of privacy. The applicant is directed to advise the Tribunal and the Pay Equity Office as to whether it will be pursuing this argument forthwith but no later than 15 business days in advance of the teleconference so that the Pay Equity Office can be prepared to deal with this issue during the teleconference (including submitting legal authorities) if necessary.
The Registrar is requested to schedule a teleconference hearing in consultation with the parties. The parties are directed to ensure that any legal authorities they intend to rely upon during the teleconference are delivered to the other party and that three copies are filed with the Tribunal no later than 10 business days in advance of the date set for the teleconference hearing.
Dated at Toronto this 20th day of February, 2018.
“Roslyn McGilvery”
Roslyn McGilvery, Vice-Chair
“William Cook”
William Cook, Member
“Irene Harris”
Irene Harris, Member