Advocates celebrate pay transparency law

The New Brunswick Coalition for Pay Equity is celebrating a hard-won victory: the Pay Transparency Act has received Royal Assent. After years of research, mobilization, and sustained pressure on the government, workers across the province now have the tools they need to ensure their existing rights are respected, and the silence around pay is finally broken.

The Pay Transparency Act establishes concrete obligations for employers and gives workers the protections and tools to uphold their existing rights, including the right to equal pay and to work free from discrimination.

Specifically, the Act:

• Requires employers to include salary or salary ranges in all public and internal job postings
• Prohibits employers from asking about a candidate’s salary history
• Requires larger employers (50 or more employees) to prepare and publish annual anonymized reports, shedding light on compensation gaps across equity groups
• Protects workers from reprisals for disclosing or discussing their wages

Note: This provision will only come into force on a date to be fixed by proclamation. The Coalition had recommended that it take effect immediately upon Royal Assent and is calling on the government to act without delay.

The Act applies to all employers and employees under provincial jurisdiction, and protects women, gender diverse people, 2SLGBTQIA+ people, Indigenous people, Black and racialized people, and persons with disabilities.

We will be watching closely. The details of proclamation and regulation will determine whether this law truly delivers for workers. We will be at the table every step of the way.

Pay transparency is now the law, but private- and care-sector workers in New Brunswick still do not have pay equity. The government has committed to delivering that during this mandate, and the Coalition calls on it to keep that promise without delay.

Pay transparency is a powerful tool for revealing wage gaps. But proactive pay equity legislation is required to correct pay inequities in the private sector. The government has made that promise, and New Brunswick workers, especially women, are counting on it.

The Coalition extends its deepest gratitude to all those who contributed to this victory: workers who shared their stories, partners who stood with us, advocates who never gave up, and the government that chose to act.

The New Brunswick Coalition for Pay Equity is a group of individuals and organizations that pursues and ensures the realization of the right to pay equity and to just conditions of work for women. To that end, the Coalition engages in communication, education, research, advocacy for the adoption and implementation of adequate legislation, as well as public policy dialogue and development.

Pay equity is equal pay for work of equal value. To achieve pay equity, the value of female-dominated jobs must be compared to the value of male-dominated jobs.

Jody Dallaire is the chair of the New Brunswick Coalition for Pay Equity.