Carlow Mayo council discuss Pay Equity Plan

By Mike Riley

At Carlow Mayo Township council's Nov. 20 meeting, they heard from Jenny Snider, the CAO/clerk who filed a report with the details of a Request for Proposal for a Pay Equity Plan for the township. She recommended going with the lowest bidder, CultureAlly, with a bid of $16,830 plus HST, to do the project, a recommendation that council voted to go along with. The work on the Pay Equity Plan will commence in January, 2024.
Snider's report to council on the Pay Equity Plan at their Nov. 20 meeting outlined the details of the RFP that had been put out to get a company to do this project. The following companies submitted proposals to do the project; Gallagher Benefit Services at $19,900 plus HST, HR Strategies Consulting at $20,000 plus HST, Pesce & Associates at $21,000 plus HST and CultureAlly at $16,830 plus HST.
All public sector employers, including municipalities, that started their organization after Jan. 1, 1988 must achieve and maintain a pay equity plan. These plans must be reviewed and updated at least once every five years. Ontario's Pay Equity Act seeks to ensure that work traditionally done by women paid is paid the same as work of equal value traditionally done by men, also known as “equal pay for equal work.” According to the Act, an employer must maintain the means to ensure compensation practices are kept up to date and remain consistent with pay equity principles. This is an ongoing responsibility, which requires regular review to ensure pay equity is being achieved within the organization, and if not, to make sure adjustments are made to do so. Exceptions are made for seniority systems, merit systems, systems that measure earnings by quantity or quality of production or differences in pay due to any other factor other than sex. More details on the Act can be found at www.ontario.ca/document/your-guide-employment-standards-act-0/equal-pay-equal-work.
Councillor Pam Stewart asked Snider if the pay equity study could be done in-house, but Snider replied that it needed to be done impartially, so an outside firm was contracted to do the work. Council ultimately voted to have Culture Ally do the pay equity study for their bid of $16,830 plus HST.
Snider told Bancroft this Week that the RFP was put out so the township could budget for the project in 2024.
“The winning bidder has been notified and will start the project in January.”