Pay Equity Maintenance for 2020-2025 is now guided by a joint committee

For the first time in more than 20 years, the 2020-2025 pay equity maintenance exercise will be carried out by a joint maintenance committee, as outlined in the Pay Equity Act, bringing together the employer and labour unions representing the workers. This type of collaborative approach has not been used since the initial assessment in the early 2000s.

Since then, the government has carried out the 2010, 2015 and 2020 maintenance exercises unilaterally. The result? Disputed postings, followed by years of legal proceedings – still ongoing for some complaints – before corrections were applied. This time, the outcome will be determined by the joint efforts of the maintenance committee.

The first official meeting of the maintenance committee was held on September 17. Represented at the table, as an inter-union coalition, were the CSN, the CSQ, the FTQ, the FIQ, the APTS, the FAE and the SPGQ, as well as the Secrétariat du Conseil du trésor (SCT). Together, we will review changes in job roles and determine if any salary adjustments are warranted.

Given the scope of the work, the results, originally scheduled to be posted by December 20, 2025, will be delayed. However, any adjustments will be applied retroactively, including statutory interest. Overall, we are confident that this collaborative working method will avoid prolonged legal disputes.

We will continue to keep you informed as the work progresses.

What is pay equity maintenance?

Under the Pay Equity Act, the Treasury Board must conduct a pay equity maintenance exercise every five years for the parapublic sector program that covers employees in the health and social services and education networks. The purpose of this exercise is to identify whether events in the networks have created pay gaps between equivalent female-dominated and male-dominated job categories and, if so, to determine what adjustments are required. Some examples of events that could lead to pay equity gaps include:

• Creation, elimination or merger of predominantly female or male job categories;
• Significant change in the duties or requirements of a job category that may affect a job’s value;
• Change in the sexual predominance of a job category;
• Change in the remuneration of job categories.