New Pay Transparency Rules in Effect Today - November 1
New Pay Transparency Rules in Effect Today - November 1
BC's new Pay Transparency Act came into force this Spring, with new requirements starting today, November 1, 2023.
The legislation contains three key provisions, which have varying degrees of impact on employers and potential action on pay equity. Read the below the ensure you're up to date, and join us on November 8 for our special session on these new requirements:
The legislation contains three key provisions, which have varying degrees of impact on employers and potential action on pay equity. Read the below the ensure you're up to date, and join us on November 8 for our special session on these new requirements:
1) Restrictions on Inquiring About Pay
The new law prohibits an employer from asking about the pay history of a job applicant, either by directly asking the applicant or by going through a 3rd party. Employers cannot ask an applicant questions like "What were you making in your previous role?". This rule has been proposed as a way of supporting equal pay by not perpetuating a scenario where someone has been previously underpaid. Employers can still use publicly available pay data about similar positions to determine a salary range.
The new law also prohibits an employer from disciplining in any way existing employees for disclosing or discussing their pay. Employers may have old policies which forbid employees from discussing their salaries with other employees or with future applicants, and these should be repealed as they would not be in line with the new rules.
The new law prohibits an employer from asking about the pay history of a job applicant, either by directly asking the applicant or by going through a 3rd party. Employers cannot ask an applicant questions like "What were you making in your previous role?". This rule has been proposed as a way of supporting equal pay by not perpetuating a scenario where someone has been previously underpaid. Employers can still use publicly available pay data about similar positions to determine a salary range.
The new law also prohibits an employer from disciplining in any way existing employees for disclosing or discussing their pay. Employers may have old policies which forbid employees from discussing their salaries with other employees or with future applicants, and these should be repealed as they would not be in line with the new rules.
2) Disclosing Salary in Job Postings
Employers are required to include in any publicly-advertised job opportunity either the specific wage for the job, or the expected salary range for the position. While this is common practice for many employers already, many others -- particularly smaller businesses -- do not include this information publicly, but will have to starting November 1, 2023.
Employers do not need to include bonus pay, overtime pay, tips, or benefits on job postings. You must post either the expected wage or a salary range within the job posting. The Langley Chamber has advocated for this range to be left broad and up to the employer --- the Government has agreed and not defined the allowable range. For example, you could post specifically $20 per hour or $40,000 per year, or you could post a range of $20-$30 per hour or $40,000 - $60,000 per year.
If posting a range, you must include a specific minimum and maximum -- “$20 per hour and up” or “up to $30 per hour” will not meet the requirement.
General “help wanted” posters that don’t advertise a specific opportunity and general recruitment campaigns that don’t mention specific job opportunities are not included in this.
3) Effective November 2024, 2025, 2026: Issuing Pay Transparency Reports
The Langley Chamber has been actively engaging with the Ministry on this last piece to minimize the administrative burden it will create. The law will require employers to publicly issue each year a Pay Transparency Report, which shares aggregate data on pay levels for various positions, comparing genders and possibly other demographic information. This would require employers to annually collect demographic information (at least gender) in order to issue this report.
This will initially impact the BC government and Crown corporations on November 1 of this year. And then it will expand to:
Employers do not need to include bonus pay, overtime pay, tips, or benefits on job postings. You must post either the expected wage or a salary range within the job posting. The Langley Chamber has advocated for this range to be left broad and up to the employer --- the Government has agreed and not defined the allowable range. For example, you could post specifically $20 per hour or $40,000 per year, or you could post a range of $20-$30 per hour or $40,000 - $60,000 per year.
If posting a range, you must include a specific minimum and maximum -- “$20 per hour and up” or “up to $30 per hour” will not meet the requirement.
General “help wanted” posters that don’t advertise a specific opportunity and general recruitment campaigns that don’t mention specific job opportunities are not included in this.
3) Effective November 2024, 2025, 2026: Issuing Pay Transparency Reports
The Langley Chamber has been actively engaging with the Ministry on this last piece to minimize the administrative burden it will create. The law will require employers to publicly issue each year a Pay Transparency Report, which shares aggregate data on pay levels for various positions, comparing genders and possibly other demographic information. This would require employers to annually collect demographic information (at least gender) in order to issue this report.
This will initially impact the BC government and Crown corporations on November 1 of this year. And then it will expand to:
- Employers with 1,000 employees or more in 2024
- Employers with 300 employees or more in 2025
- Employers with 50 employees or more in 2026
This will be a significant new administrative task for businesses and the Langley Chamber has advocated directly with government on the regulations governing this part of the law, and for greater exemptions for smaller employers.
This will be a significant new administrative task for businesses and the Langley Chamber has advocated directly with government on the regulations governing this part of the law, and for greater exemptions for smaller employers.