Making a Complaint
Step 1: Contacting the Equal Pay Commissioner
If you believe that some of your co-workers are being paid more than you and their work is equal in value to your work, you should contact the Equal Pay Commissioner.
You will need to explain:
- who your employer is
- what your job is
- what job(s) or work you think is being paid differently than you, and why you think this is wrong
- how you think that this difference in pay relates to gender or, in other words, how this is a difference in pay between men and women
- how to contact you (phone, e-mail, address)
If you do not know how to answer all of these questions, provide as much information as you can.
You can contact the Equal Pay Commissioner by telephone, e-mail, fax or mail.
Step 2: Initial Review
The Equal Pay Commissioner will contact you by telephone or in writing to discuss your concerns. She will explain your right to equal pay for work of equal value and help you to decide whether your concerns can be addressed under the equal pay sections of the Public Service Act.
If your concern can be addressed under the equal pay sections of the Public Service Act, the Equal Pay Commissioner will help you to write a formal complaint, and will ask you to sign and date it.
The Equal Pay Commissioner will keep one copy of the formal complaint, will give you a copy and will send a copy of the complaint to your employer and to your union, if you are represented by a union.
Step 3: Investigation and Investigation Report
The Equal Pay Commissioner will investigate the complaint. She will
gather information from your employer, your union (if you are represented
by a union) and you about the value of your work, the value of other work
being performed for your employer, and the pay and benefits you and others
receive. She will review this information to see whether your employer
is paying men and women who perform work of equal value equally, and, if not,
whether the reason for this difference one of the reasons permitted under
the Act.
While the Equal Pay Commissioner is investigating the complaint,
she may meet with you, your employer or your union, alone or together. She
will try to help you, your employer, and your union (if you are represented
by a union) to resolve your concerns in a way that you all agree with. If
this happens, the investigation will end.
If your complaint cannot be resolved in this way, the Equal Pay Commissioner will write an Investigation Report about her investigation and her recommendations about what could be done to resolve the complaint.
The Equal Pay Commissioner’s recommendations are only suggestions about what she considers to be a fair way to resolve the problem. She has no power to decide what happens or to require anyone to follow her recommendations. If a decision is needed, it must be made by an arbitrator, as described below.
The Equal Pay Commissioner will send a copy of the Investigation Report to you, your employer, and your union if you are represented by a union.
The Equal Pay Commissioner must complete her investigation and write the Investigation Report within 6 months of the date you signed your formal complaint.
Step 4: After the Investigation Report
After you receive the Investigation Report, you, your employer, and your union (if you are represented by a union) each have an opportunity to review it and decide what you want to do. You can still ask the Equal Pay Commissioner to help you work together to resolve the complaint, and you could also choose to work on your own.
If any of you, your employer or the union (if you are represented by a union) decide that you want someone to resolve the complaint, any one of you can submit the formal complaint and the Investigation Report to an arbitrator.
If you want to have the complaint decided by an arbitrator, you must send a copy of the formal complaint and the Investigation Report to an arbitrator no later than six weeks after the day you received the Investigation Report. If you do not know how to contact an arbitrator, the Equal Pay Commissioner can help.
Step 5: Arbitration
If you, your employer or your union (if you are represented by a union) submits the complaint to an arbitrator, the arbitrator must decide whether or not your right to equal pay for work of equal value under the Public Service Act has been contravened. The arbitrator’s fee will be paid by the Equal Pay Commissioner, but she will not participate at the hearing.
The arbitrator will schedule hearing in your community or another location that you agree is appropriate. At the hearing, the arbitrator will listen to the evidence, including the documents and oral testimony of participants and witnesses.
After the hearing, the arbitrator will decide whether or not the right to equal pay for work of equal value in the Public Service Act has been contravened and will write reasons for his or her decision. If the arbitrator finds that the Act has been contravened, the decision will also tell the employer what it must do to correct the situation.
Step 6: Appeal
Any party may decide to appeal the decision of the arbitrator to the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories. An appeal must be filed with the court within six weeks of receiving the arbitrator’s decision.
In an appeal, a judge of the Supreme Court will review the arbitrator’s decision and decide whether it should stand or should be overturned.
The Equal Pay Commissioner does not participate in the appeal process.
