Section 11 — Canadian Human Rights Act: Equal wages

It is a discriminatory practice for an employer to establish or maintain differences in wages between male and female employees employed in the same establishment who are performing work of equal value. In assessing the value of work performed by employees employed in the same establishment, the criterion to be applied is the composite of the skill, effort and responsibility required in the performance of the work and the conditions under which the work is performed. Separate establishments established or maintained by an employer solely or principally for the purpose of establishing or maintaining differences in wages between male and female employees shall be deemed for the purposes of this section to be the same establishment. Notwithstanding subsection (1), it is not a discriminatory practice to pay to male and female employees different wages if the difference is based on a factor prescribed by guidelines, issued by the Canadian Human Rights Commission pursuant to subsection 27(2), to be a reasonable factor that justifies the difference. For greater certainty, sex does not constitute a reasonable factor justifying a difference in wages. An employer shall not reduce wages in order to eliminate a discriminatory practice described in this section. For the purposes of this section, wages means any form of remuneration payable for work performed by an individual and includes salaries, commissions, vacation pay, dismissal wages and bonuses; reasonable value for board, rent, housing and lodging; payments in kind; employer contributions to pension funds or plans, long-term disability plans and all forms of health insurance plans; and any other advantage received directly or indirectly from the individual’s employer.