British Columbia to require pay transparency, salary disclosure 

June 02, 2023

Beginning November 1, 2023, employers in British Columbia face salary disclosure requirements and phased-in preparation and posting of annual pay transparency reports. The measures are included in the Pay Transparency Act (Bill 13) that received Royal Assent on May 11, 2023; future regulations will clarify the content of the pay transparency report, and the lawful collection of employees’ personal data. 

• Effective May 11, 2023, employers can no longer ask a job applicant for their pay history unless the information is publicly available.
  
  
• From November 1, 2023, employers will have to specify the expected salary or salary/wage range for any publicly advertised job.
  
  
• Employees cannot suffer reprisals if they ask their employers about their pay, or disclose information about their own pay to another employee or job applicant; inquire about the employer’s pay transparency report; ask the employer to comply with the act; or make a report to the director of pay transparency concerning the employer’s compliance with the act. Reprisals include dismissal, suspension, demotion, discipline, harassment or imposing any other disadvantage on the employee, or threats to do so.
  
  
• Employers will gradually be required to prepare annual reports detailing pay gaps for certain groups, no later than November 1, 2023. The phase-in is as follows: November 1, 2023 — BC government and the six largest Crown corporations; November 1, 2024 — employers with 1,000 or more employees as of January 1, 2024; November 1, 2025 — employers with 300 or more employees as of January 1, 2025; and November 1, 2026 — employers with 50 or more employees as of January 1, 2026.
  
  
• Pay transparency reports must be published on a publicly accessible website as soon as practicable after their preparation.  
  
  
• Beginning in 2024, the Ministry of Finance will publish an annual report on the gender pay gap by 1 June of each year and will designate a director of pay transparency. The act is subject to an effectiveness review within five years.  

• Bill 13 - 2023: Pay Transparency Act (Legislative Assembly, April 25, 2023)