What is the BC Pay Transparency Act?
The Pay Transparency Act came into effect in BC on May 11, 2023, to help address the prevalent gender pay gap in the province. On average, women in BC earn about 14.5% less than men, with the gap even wider for women and gender diverse people who are Indigenous, racialized, newcomers, disabled, and/or 2SLGBTQIA+.
Which Employers Are Required to Complete Annual Pay Transparency Reporting?
A provincially regulated employer above a certain size must prepare a pay transparency report by November 1 each year and publish it on a publicly accessible website. The reporting requirements have been phased in based on employer size:
- November 1, 2025 – 1,000 + employees
- November 1, 2025 – 300 + employees
- November 1, 2026 – 50 + employees
If an organization has 50 or more BC based employees as of January 1, 2026, they need to publish a pay transparency report by November 1, 2026.
Which Parts of the B.C. Pay Transparency Act Apply to All Organizations?
There are two components to the pay transparency regulations: 1) job posting & reprisal protection and 2) pay transparency reporting. The former applies to all organizations and includes the following rules:
Job postings: Employers are required to include the salary or a realistic pay range for a given position in the job posting.
Pay history questions: Employers can’t ask candidates what they earned in previous positions.
Protection from reprisal: Employees are protected from dismissal, demotion, discipline, or harassment as a result of discussing their pay, asking about a pay transparency report, or raising a compliance concern.
What Does B.C. Pay Transparency Reporting Involve?
Organizations with a certain number of employees are required to submit an annual pay transparency report that outlines the pay discrepancies between genders.
The process for pay transparency reporting includes:
- Collecting employee gender data using self-identification surveys
- Consolidating payroll and workforce data, including overtime pay and bonuses
- Calculating pay gaps based on gender
- Preparing and submitting the Pay Transparency Report in the required format
- Publishing the report
Will my organization’s Pay Transparency report be public?
Yes, organizations are required to post their annual report on their public website. If they don’t have a website, it needs to be displayed physically in a conspicuous location in the workplace, and available to anyone who requests a copy.
What data is required for the report?
The BC pay transparency report requires organizations to collect the following employee information:
- Gender
- Number of hours worked annually
- Ordinary pay
- Regular salary
- Special salary
- Overtime hours annually
- Overtime pay annually
- Bonus pay
Which employees are included in the Pay Transparency report?
For the purpose of this report, all employees paid within the reporting period should be included, regardless of employment status. This means all:
- full-time
- part-time
- temporary
- seasonal
- remote workers should be included.
Do organizations have to survey employees to collect gender data, or can they use information from their HR system?
The BC transparency regulation requires employers to make a reasonable effort to gather their employees’ gender information. Employers are allowed to use previously collected HR gender data, but must meet a few conditions:
- The data needs to be voluntarily self-identified by the employees themselves
- Employees must be informed that their gender data is being used for the BC Pay Transparency Report
- Employees must be given a clear opportunity to review, update, or opt out before their gender data is collected for the report
- Collected data must follow the Gender and Sex Data Standard
Does pay transparency information need to be treated in a particular way?
Data collected for the purpose of pay transparency, including gender and compensation information, is highly sensitive information. To build trust and create transparency, it’s important that organizations collect, handle, and store personal data safely and securely.
Unsure of best practices and privacy legislation on collecting data from employees?
Frame & Associates is experienced in designing and administering confidential workforce surveys. We are following British Columbia’s Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA) and Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA) standards in how we collect, store and handle personal data on behalf of employers.
You can trust that your employee’s privacy is safe with us.
Do the pay transparency rules apply to organizations that operate in multiple provinces?
The requirements of the BC Pay Transparency Act apply only to BC based employees. Organizations must follow the pay transparency rules specific to each jurisdiction in which they operate.
How can Frame & Associates help your organization?
Whether you need guidance on how your organization is reporting to the provincial government, or you’re looking for an end-to-end reporting solution, our team can support you at the level that suits your organization.
