January 17, 2022

Creating groups of job classes - Interpretations, Policies and Guidelines

Publication Type

Interpretations, policies and guidelines

Subject Matter

Pay Equity Plan

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Interpretations, Policies and Guidelines

Creating groups of job classes

1. Purpose

This Interpretation, Policy and Guideline (IPG) covers the following elements:

Purpose of groups of job classes;
Defining a group of job classes;
Creating a group of job classes;
Completing the steps of a pay equity plan with a group of job classes.

*This document is not a legal document and is not a binding interpretation of the Act. This document is technical in nature and should not be used as a plain language resource. Plain language resources are available at https://www.payequitychrc.ca/en

2. Purpose of groups of job classes

The Pay Equity Act provides that a group of job classes may be treated as a single predominantly female job class under certain circumstances. Creating female predominant groups of job classes may be relevant for employers and pay equity committees who wish to maintain the pay relativity between job classes that are already organized in a series or sequence.

Establishing a group of female predominant job classes can help streamline the pay equity exercise and limit the impacts of pay equity on existing organizational structures.

Job classes may only be combined to form a female predominant group of job classes. This means that job classes may not be combined to create a male predominant group of job classes

3. Defining a group of job classes

The Pay Equity Act (the Act) defines a group of job classes as:

a series of job classes that bear a relationship to each other because of the nature of the work required to be performed within each job class in the series and that are organized in successive levels [ss. 3(1)].

The Act provides that a group of job classes may be treated as a single predominantly female job class if at least 60% of the positions in the group are occupied by women [ss. 38(1)].

Job classes can be grouped if:

the nature of the work to be performed is related;
the job classes are organized in successive levels in terms of effort, qualifications and responsibility; and
at least 60% of the positions in the group are occupied by women.

3.1. Nature of the work

To form a group of job classes, the nature of the work to be performed in each job class must be related. For example, the nature of work may be related when the work performed in a series of job classes is part of the same professional field. Here are some examples of professional fields:

accounting;
information management;
marketing;
administrative services; and,
maintenance services.

3.2. Successive levels

The concept of successive levels refers to a series of job classes organized in consecutive order and without interruption (e.g. from level 1 to level 3). To form a group, job classes should be placed in a hierarchical order relative to each other.

Example – Group of job class structure

The table below represents a fictitious group of job classes made up of four job classes providing administrative support. The goal of the example is to demonstrate the hierarchical relationship between the job classes of a given group, and to clarify the distinction between a position, a job class and group of job classes.

Group of job classes – Administrative support
Position	Duties and responsibilities	Job class
Manager	Oversees the provision of all administrative services Manages human and financial resources for the administrative support team Works under minimal supervision, reporting to the director	Administrative supervisors
Senior administrative officer	Provides HR and financial services to the manager and director Works with less supervision than administrative officers and reports to the manager	Senior administrative officers
Administrative officer 1 Administrative officer 2 Administrative officer 3	Provide administrative services to the reception desk Work under the supervision of the manager	Administrative officers
Administrative assistant Scheduling assistant	Provides administrative services to the director Works under the supervision of the manager Provides scheduling services to the director Works under the supervision of the manager	Administrative assistants

4. Creating a group of job classes

4.1. Before creating a group of job classes

Before creating a group of job classes, the employer or the pay equity committee must complete the two first steps of a pay equity plan:

Step 1: Creating job classes; and
Step 2: Determining which job classes are predominantly female and which ones are predominantly male.

Once all the job classes have been established under step 1, the employer or the pay equity committee must determine which ones are predominantly female and which ones are predominantly male [s. 35] under step 2. For more information on how to conduct these two steps, please consult other resources available on the pay equity web page on the Canadian Human Rights Commission's website at www.payequitychrc.ca/en.

4.2. When creating a group of job classes

For a group of job classes to be considered as a single female predominant job class, 60% of the positions in the group have to be occupied by women. This means that even if some of the job classes within the group are predominantly male or gender neutral, the group can still be considered predominantly female if 60% of the job positions in the entire group are occupied by women.

When determining gender predominance of a group, the historic gender predominance and the gender-based stereotyping criteria do not apply. Only the current gender incumbency of the entire group is considered [s. 38(1)].

Example – Determining gender predominance for a group of job classes

The example below illustrates how gender predominance would be determined for the Group of Job Classes – Administrative Support.

Number of positions	%of positions occupied by women	% of positions occupied by men	Women	Men	Gender predominance¹
Administrative Supervisors
1	100%	0%	1	0	F
Senior Administrative Officers
1	0%	100%	0	1	M
Administrative Officers
3	66,6%	33,3%	2	1	F
Administrative Assistants
2	100%	0%	2	0	F
Gender Predominance of the Group of Job Classes : Administrative Support
7	71,4%	28,6%	5	2	F

4.3. Selecting a representative job class within the group

The group of job classes approach provides that a single job class must be selected as the representative job class for the group. The representative job class must be:

The largest predominantly female job class in the group (e.g. the predominantly female job class with the greatest number of employees).

Note that while a group may incorporate some predominantly male or neutral job classes, the representative job class has to be predominantly female.

Within the Group of Job Classes – Administrative Support, the largest predominantly female job class is “Administrative Officers.” It is therefore, the representative job class.

5. Completing the steps of a pay equity plan with a group of job classes

The remaining steps of the pay equity plan will be completed using the representative job class:

Step 3: Determining the value of work

Step 4: Calculating compensation; and,

Step 5: Determining whether there are any differences in compensation by comparing compensation.

5.1 Determining the value of work

When completing step 3, the employer or pay equity committee must value the work performed by the representative job class in a group of job classes [s. 41(3)].

Within the Group of Job Classes – Administrative Support, the value of work is determined for the Administrative Officers' job class. The value of work is not determined for the other job classes (Administrative Supervisors, Senior Administrative Officers, and Administrative Assistants).

5.2 Calculating compensation

When completing step 4, the employer or the pay equity committee must calculate the total compensation of the representative job class in the group [s. 44(2)].

Within the Group of Job Classes – Administrative Support, the compensation is calculated for the Administrative Officers' job class. The compensation is not calculated for the other job classes (Administrative Supervisors, Senior Administrative Officers, and Administrative Assistants).

5.3 Determining whether there are any differences in compensation by comparing compensation

When completing step 5, the employer or pay equity committee uses the value of work and the total compensation information for the representative job class in the group to compare compensation.

For the Group of Job Classes – Administrative Support, the comparison of compensation is performed using the Administrative Officers' job class. The comparison of compensation is not performed for the other job classes (Administrative Supervisors, Senior Administrative Officers, and Administrative Assistants)

Should there be any differences in compensation identified for the representative job class after applying the equal average or the equal line method, pay equity adjustments must be applied across the group of job classes.

Any adjustments have to be applied to the representative job class and all other job classes in the group regardless of their gender predominance (i.e. gender neutral, predominantly male or female).

Adjustments to compensation to all the job classes in the group of job classes help avoid discrepancies and maintain pay relativity. If each of the job classes were evaluated separately, one job class might receive a higher adjustment than another, therefore changing the existing sequence or pay progression.

Example – Calculating increases using a group of job classes approach

Before Pay Equity
Job class	Gender predominance	Number of employees	Pre-pay equity salary rate	Difference between levels ($)
Administrative supervisors	F	1	$21.36/hr	+1.98
Senior administrative officers	M	1	$19.38/hr	+1.66
Administrative officers	F	3	$17.72/hr	+1.34
Administrative assistants	F	2	$16.38/hr

In this example, an adjustment of $0.14/hr is determined for the Administrative Officers job class.

The $0.14/hr adjustment must be applied to all job classes in the group. Once the salary adjustment has been applied and pay equity has been achieved, the hourly salary rates for the four job classes are:

After Pay Equity
Job class	Gender predominance	Number of employees	Pay equity adjustment ($)	New salary rate	Difference between levels ($)
Administrative supervisors	F	1	0.14	$21.50/hr	+1.98
Senior administrative officers	M	1	0.14	$19.52/hr	+1.66
Administrative officers	F	3	0.14	$17.86/hr	+1.34
Administrative assistants	F	2	0.14	$16.52/hr

Adjustments may be calculated on a dollar or percentage basis.

6. Referenced Pay Equity Act Provisions

3 (1) group of job classes: means a series of job classes that bear a relationship to each other because of the nature of the work required to be performed within each job class in the series and that are organized in successive levels. (groupe de catégories d'emploi)
Determination: 35 Once an employer — or, if a pay equity committee has been established, that committee — has identified all of the job classes under section 32, it must determine which of them are predominantly female job classes and which of them are predominantly male job classes.
Group of job classes: 38 (1) An employer — or, if a pay equity committee has been established, that committee — may treat a group of job classes as a single predominantly female job class if at least 60% of the positions in the group are occupied by women.
Interpretation: (2) If an employer or pay equity committee, as the case may be, treats a group of job classes as a single predominantly female job class, this Act applies in respect of the group of job classes as if it were a single predominantly female job class, unless the context otherwise requires.
Group of job classes: 41 (3) If an employer or pay equity committee, as the case may be, treats a group of job classes as a predominantly female job class in accordance with section 38, the value of the work performed in that job class is considered to be the value of the work performed in the individual predominantly female job class within the group that has the greatest number of employees.
Group of job classes: 44 (2) If an employer or pay equity committee, as the case may be, treats a group of job classes as a predominantly female job class in accordance with section 38, the compensation associated with that job class is considered to be the compensation associated with the individual predominantly female job class within the group that has the greatest number of employees.
Comparison: 47 An employer — or, if a pay equity committee has been established, that committee — that has calculated under section 44 the compensation associated with each job class must, using the compensation so calculated, compare, in accordance with sections 48 to 50, the compensation associated with the predominantly female job classes with the compensation associated with the predominantly male job classes, for the purpose of determining whether there is any difference in compensation between those job classes.