B.C. is launching an online tool to help employers prepare pay transparency reports.
The reports are a requirement under the province’s Pay Transparency Act, which has been in effect for just over a year.
The new online tool allows employers to upload data on employees’ gender and pay to create an automated report, the Ministry of Finance explains.
The ministry and its gender equity office add all employers with 1,000 or more employees are required under the law to prepare and post reports about their gender pay gaps by Nov. 1.
“The requirement has been introduced in stages to give employers time to prepare,” a statement issued Wednesday said.
The first stage was last November, and applied to the B.C. Public Service Agency, as well as the six largest Crown corporations: ICBC, BC Hydro, WorkSafeBC, BC Housing, BC Lottery Corporation, and BC Transit.
The second deadline — set for this coming Nov. 1 — will apply to employers with 1,000 employees or more, while the third, set for Nov. 1, 2025, will be for those with 300 employees or more.
The fourth and final deadline for now is set for Nov. 1, 2026, when all employers with 50 employees or more will be reported to report.
All employers in B.C. are required to include salary or wage information on all publicly posted jobs, the province notes. Citing Indeed — a job posting website — the B.C. government says this requirement as of last year “has resulted in a significant increase in wage information available.”
The Pay Transparency Act passed in May 2023. The act places requirements on businesses to “address systemic discrimination in the workplace.”
Citing data from Statistics Canada, the province says women in B.C. earned 17 per cent less than men in 2023, based on median hourly pay. The gap was higher for Indigenous, racialized, and newcomer women in B.C., it adds.