Ontario Pay Equity Hearings Tribunal

The applicant union advised the Pay Equity Hearings Tribunal that the application under the Pay Equity Act had been settled between the parties.

The Tribunal considered the matter settled and cancelled all remaining hearing dates.

The applicants challenged the respondent's pay equity plan, arguing it did not comply with the Pay Equity Act and improperly limited pay equity adjustments to 2016 due to a purported lack of records.

The Tribunal found that the respondent failed to demonstrate how the plan was created or how job classes were evaluated.

The Tribunal held that the respondent could not rely on its own failure to maintain records to avoid its pay equity obligations prior to 2016.

The Tribunal revoked the Review Officer's order, directed the respondent to file a Notice of Inability to Achieve Pay Equity, and ordered a review officer to prepare a new pay equity plan at the employer's expense.

During a hearing under section 24(5) of the Pay Equity Act, the applicants requested document production during the cross-examination of the respondent's witness.

The Tribunal directed the respondent to produce the requested documents or have them available electronically at the next hearing date if objecting to their production.

The Tribunal also set deadlines for the applicants to file their documents and scheduled continuation dates for the hearing.

The applicants filed an application under section 24(5) of the Pay Equity Act.

Following opening statements at the hearing, the parties engaged in settlement discussions and reached an agreement.

The Tribunal adjourned the hearing to allow the parties to execute a settlement document, with a future hearing date retained in the event the settlement is not executed.

The respondent requested, on consent, an extension of the response deadline to October 31, 2022.

The Pay Equity Hearings Tribunal, sitting as a panel of one pursuant to section 4.2(1) of the Statutory Powers Procedure Act, granted the request.

The respondent requested, on consent, an extension of the response deadline to October 31, 2022.

The Pay Equity Hearings Tribunal, sitting as a panel of one pursuant to section 4.2(1) of the Statutory Powers Procedure Act, granted the request.

The applicant union filed an application requesting the Pay Equity Hearings Tribunal to assume jurisdiction over its complaint, asserting that the Pay Equity Office had declined to render a determination.

The Pay Equity Office subsequently informed the Tribunal that it expected to issue a decision by September 30, 2022.

The Tribunal found the application premature and terminated it, without prejudice to the applicant's right to file a fresh application if the decision was not rendered as represented.

The applicants requested an extension of timelines for filing witness statements.

The Pay Equity Hearings Tribunal granted the request, extending the deadlines for the applicants to file their witness statements to September 16, 2022, and for the respondent to file its responding witness statements to October 7, 2022.

The Pay Equity Office filed ten enforcement applications in 2016, which were held in abeyance pending the resolution of corresponding challenges filed by the Ontario Nurses Association.

Following the dismissal of the challenges at judicial review and the denial of leave to appeal to the Court of Appeal, the Tribunal directed the Pay Equity Office to advise by a specified date whether it intended to pursue the enforcement applications, failing which they would be deemed abandoned.

The respondent advised the Tribunal that it agreed to proceed by way of a single vice-chair rather than a panel for the hearing.

The Tribunal directed the applicant to advise by July 13, 2022, if it objected to this procedure, failing which the hearing would be scheduled before a single vice-chair.

The applicant brought an application under the Pay Equity Act.

At the hearing, the applicant raised a new allegation that the respondent's 1990 pay equity plan was not compliant with the Act, and sought a production order for related documents.

The Tribunal held it lacked jurisdiction to consider the new allegation because it had not been raised with Review Services.

The Tribunal also largely denied the production request, finding it overbroad, irrelevant to the permitted issues, and significantly delayed contrary to the parties' pre-hearing memorandum of agreement.

The Pay Equity Hearings Tribunal issued procedural directions for three applications under the Pay Equity Act.

The parties agreed to a sole presiding officer and the hearing date was used to resolve procedural matters.

The Tribunal ordered the applicants to file signed witness statements and all parties to file documents by July 22, 2022.

The Tribunal also set hearing dates for September 2022 and January 2023 to be conducted by video.

The applicant alleged that the respondent failed to maintain pay equity.

Following a 2016 decision directing the parties to negotiate an amendment to their pay equity plan using a gender-neutral comparison system (GNCS), the parties failed to reach an agreement after six years.

The Tribunal found that the parties were unable to resolve the issues themselves and directed them to file an application with Review Services to resolve their substantive differences regarding the GNCS.

The matter was adjourned sine die pending the outcome of that application.

The applicant filed an application complaining that Review Services had taken too long to issue a decision regarding a pay equity complaint.

Shortly after, the Tribunal received a copy of the Review Officer's decision.

The Tribunal dismissed the application as premature, without prejudice to either party filing a fresh application regarding the new Order, noting that the Pay Equity Office had fulfilled its statutory enforcement function.

The applicant union sought direction from the Tribunal on how to accomplish proxy pay equity maintenance as directed by the Court of Appeal.

The respondent nursing homes disputed that the matter was ready for direction, arguing the applicant had completed steps unilaterally contrary to the terms of reference.

The Tribunal directed the applicant to file a response addressing the respondent's assertion that the joint process had not been completed.

At a pre-consultation conference regarding an application challenging a pay equity plan, the Tribunal established the order of proceedings and directed document production.

The Tribunal clarified that its hearings are de novo and focused solely on whether the plan complies with the Pay Equity Act.

The respondent was ordered to produce correspondence and the engagement letter with the third-party contractor who completed the plan, and to file witness statements first for the hearing on the merits.

The applicant union alleged that the respondent nursing homes failed to maintain pay equity under the proxy method.

Following a previous direction to update the Tribunal on their progress, the union submitted that the parties were ready for further direction on accomplishing proxy pay equity maintenance as directed by the Court of Appeal.

The Tribunal directed the respondent to file a response to the union's update.