Pay Equity Hearings Tribunal

PEHT Case No: 3156-19-PE

Pay Equity Office, Applicant v Unifor, Local 1359 - Service Unit, Office Clerical Unit, and Sault Area Hospital, Respondents

PEHT Case No: 3350-19-PE

Sault Area Hospital, Applicant v Unifor, Local 1359 - Service Unit, Office Clerical Unit, and Pay Equity Office, Respondents

BEFORE: M. David Ross, Chair

DECISION OF THE TRIBUNAL: September 16, 2021

[1]. PEHT Case No. 3156-19-PE is an application filed pursuant to section 24(5) of the Pay Equity Act, R.S.O. 1990, c.P.7 as amended (“the Act”). This application was filed on February 11, 2020.

[2]. PEHT Case No. 3350-19-PE is an application by the Hospital seeking review of the same order in which the Pay Equity Office has sought to enforce.

[3]. By letter dated September 13, 2021, the Hospital and the Union wrote a joint letter to the Tribunal that says that they have reached an agreement in principle regarding the outstanding pay equity issues in these applications. The parties requested additional time to complete the processes and make the payments as they cannot be done by October 2, 2021 as directed by the Tribunal’s March 4, 2021 decision.

[4]. The Tribunal has reviewed the remedies requested in Tribunal Case Nos. 3156-19-PE and 3350-19-PE. Given the agreement between the Hospital and the Union, the only remedies requested that are no longer moot pertain to the timing of when the plan will be completed, and the payments made.

[5]. With respect to timing, the Pay Equity Office has requested the Tribunal to order:

The parties shall calculate retroactivity in accordance with the TOR agreement. The pay equity plan and these calculations are to be completed by no later than 180 days from the date of issue of the Tribunal’s Order.

The Employer is to make payment of any and all pay equity retroactivity amounts due to employees and former employees by 210 days from the date of issue of the Tribunal’s Order.

[6]. The Tribunal finds that the timeline requested by the Pay Equity Office is reasonable and given where the Hospital and the Union are with respect to the process, there should be no reason that the parties are unable to cooperate with each other to finalize the plan and payments within this timeframe.

[7]. Accordingly, the Hospital and the Union are directed to calculate the retroactivity within 180 calendar days of the date of this decision, and to have made the pay equity payments within 210 calendar days of the date of this decision.

"M. David Ross"

M. David Ross, Chair