Employers with 1,000 or more employees should prepare and post reports about their gender-pay gaps by Nov. 1
British Columbia is helping employers in the province comply with its pay transparency rules with the release of a new tool available for free to companies.
The Pay Transparency Reporting Tool enables employers to easily create a pay transparency report as required under the Pay Transparency Act and Regulation.
To use the tool, employers simply need to upload their data and review their input for any errors. Then, with a simple click, employers would be able to download and review a draft version of their report.
“Please review the Guidance for Preparing Pay Transparency Reports to ensure you understand what must be in your report. You will also be able to include general information about your organization and any constraints or limitations with your data,” the provincial government reminds employers via the Pay Transparency Reporting Tool.
In March 2023, the provincial government introduced the new pay transparency legislation that requires all employers to include wage or salary ranges in all publicly advertised jobs.
As of Nov. 1, 2023, the rule applies to BC Public Service and the six largest Crown corporations: ICBC, BC Hydro, WorkSafeBC, BC Housing, BC Lottery Corporation and BC Transit.
The legislation’s scope will expand in stages through 2026:
- to all employers with 1,000 employees or more by Nov. 1, 2024
- to all employers with 300 employees or more by Nov. 1, 2025
- to all employers with 50 employees or more by Nov. 1, 2026
Progress on pay transparency
Also, as of last year, all employers in B.C. are required to include salary or wage information on all publicly posted jobs. That has resulted in a significant increase in wage information available, the B.C. government noted, citing data from Indeed. Forty-nine per cent of postings on the Canada-wide website included pay details as of February 2024; however, job postings in B.C. featuring pay details have now increased to 76 per cent, it said.
In 2023, women in B.C. earned 17% less than men, based on median hourly wages. For Indigenous, racialized and newcomer women, the gap is higher.
The provincial government noted, citing data from Statistics Canada (StatCan), that for every dollar a man made in 2023:
- racialized women made median earnings of 76 cents;
- Indigenous women made median earnings of 80 cents; and
- newcomer women made median earnings of 81 cents.
Here’s how to comply with B.C.'s pay transparency legislation.
