BC moves to increase transparency regarding the gender gap in employment

In March 2023, BC introduced proposed legislation titled the “Pay Transparency Act”.  The legislation is not yet passed, but if passed it would impose several requirements on employers in BC.

First, the Act will require employers to disclose salary or wages for publicly advertised job opportunities.  

Second, the Act will prohibit employers from taking action against employees for inquiring about their pay amounts, disclosing their pay amounts, or asking the employer to comply with its obligations pursuant to the Act.  Employers will also be prevented from asking employees what they were paid in their previous employment.    

Third, some (larger) employers will be required to prepare a transparency report each year, and they will be permitted to share these reports with their employees and the general public.  It is not yet known what will need to be contained in the transparency reports, but it is presumed that the information will generally include the gender of its employees and their pay differences. 

Fourth, the Act will create a Director of Pay Transparency for compliance and oversight. 

We will post further updates about the Act once there are further developments.