Pay Transparency Act
In recent years, British Columbia's Pay Transparency Act (the Act) has increased the public's understanding of pay disparities in BC's workforce. The Act came into effect on May 11, 2023, and applies only to BC provincially-regulated employers. The goal of the Act is to address systemic discrimination and reduce the gender pay gap against women and gender-diverse people.
In keeping with this goal, the Act requires all qualifying employers to disclose in public job postings the expected wage or wage range, or salary or salary range. The Act also prohibits employers from asking applicants about their pay history unless this information is publicly accessible, and prohibits employers from disciplining or retaliating against employees for discussing pay with other employees.
Further, the Act requires a qualifying employer, referred to in the Act as a "reporting employer," to prepare and publish an annual pay transparency report (Report) by November 1 of each year. As of 2025, a reporting employer includes all employers with 300 or more employees located in BC and all BC Crown corporations. These employers must publish their respective Reports by November 1, 2025.
Employers' reporting requirements
To compile data for the Report, employers must seek certain information from their employees while advising that providing this information is voluntary. The Report must contain each employee's salary, number of hours worked that can be attributed to that salary, overtime and bonus pay received in the reporting period, and the overtime hours worked that can be attributed to the overtime pay. The Report must also include the organization's name and mailing address, NAICS code, the reporting period's start and end date, and the number of employees located in BC as of January 1 of the reporting year.
The Report must also contain comparator data identifying the gender categories of men, women, and non-binary persons, and the necessary pay gap calculations that identify pay disparities across these groups. Reporting employers must then compare pay data across these gender categories, including mean and median hourly pay, overtime, and bonuses, as well as the percentage of each gender in each pay quartile. Once the Report is complete, an employer must make the Report available to employees upon request and either publish the Report on a publicly accessible website or post the Report at the workplace if the employer does not have a website.
Implications for employers
With the November 1, 2025 deadline fast approaching, it is important that employers with at least 300 employees in BC, and all BC Crown corporations, prepare their Reports in advance to ensure compliance.
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