York: 04.22.21 Auditing Pay Equity Plans
Agenda
12:00 pm - Introduction
12:05 pm - Speaker Presentation
1:30 pm - Event Concludes
Event Description
Auditing Pay Equity Plans Compliance audit processes are acknowledged as more complicated than best-practice or functional audits since they are frequently broader in scope and involve comparisons of findings to legal standards. Pay equity compliance audits are made more complex because they are not based on a snapshot in time: they require the auditor to delve into events that span years, and in many cases, decades. A key challenge faced by today’s human resources practitioner in conducting pay equity compliance audits is lack of organizational memory (oral and documentary) regarding actions and decisions taken by predecessors as far back as the early 90s. Pay equity audits also differ depending on the question to be addressed. Sometimes the organization needs to know if they can prove they have achieved pay equity. Sometimes the organization wants to be able to demonstrate that pay equity has been appropriately maintained. Factors such as cross-group comparisons, the method or methods of comparison employed (job-to-job, proportional or proxy), and retroactive pay adjustments serve to stretch the investigative skills of even the most savvy practitioner. This session will appeal to the human resource practitioner who needs to know if their organization has achieved and maintained pay equity and how they can prove it. The program emphasises opportunity for Q&A.
Program outline:
- An overview of compliance audits
- Pay equity audit framework and process questions
- Applying Standard of Review: Correctness vs Reasonableness
- Audit “sizzler issues” compiled from questions submitted by participants will be addressed
- Case examples: case situations from achievement and maintenance audits will be used to high-light difficulties encountered and how they were addressed
- Open forum: Opportunity for participants to submit questions and obtain feedback specific to their unique audit needs
- Wrap-up: Best practices in conducting pay equity audits
The session provides answers to such questions as: How can we substantiate that we did achieve pay equity when our payroll records don’t go back far enough? What do we do if we can’t locate a copy of our Pay Equity Plan? How can we substantiate that we have maintained the value/compensation relationship between female and male jobs if we haven’t evaluated new or changed jobs? Sign up for this session if you are looking to take away: examples and suggestions to address your most burning audit issues; an understanding of acceptable evidence and judgements concerning compliance and non-compliance issues; an Audit Framework (checklist and process questions) to guide your pay equity audit.
Learning Objectives
- Organizations needs to know if they can prove they have achieved pay equity
- Organizations want to be able to demonstrate pay equity have been appropriately maintained
- Organizations understanding that the value/compensation relationship between female and male jobs, if they haven't evaluate new or changed jobs
Speaker Bio
Gail Lawrence
Gail is a Consultant and Educator. She has actively consulted in all aspects of pay equity for more than 30 years. Clients include public and private sector organizations with both unionized and non-unionized groups. Currently her assignments focus on Plan audit and Amendments, assisting with maintenance issues and processes, and representing organizations in response to complaints and disputes under investigation by the Pay Equity Commission. Ms. Lawrence holds a MSc.Mgt. degree and is a CHRL. She has taught Compensation Management and Pay Equity Law as a contract lecturer. Gail has presented on pay equity topics for other HRPA Chapters and brings a rich knowledge and understanding of the history of the Ontario Pay Equity Act, its amendments, its interpretation, and its application to her presentations.