Answer: The Pay Transparency Act (PTA) is legislation that was introduced in British Columbia in 2023 for the purpose of closing the gender-pay gap and reducing discrimination in hiring. The PTA includes requirements for employers to identify the wages to be paid in publicly advertised jobs to help successful applicants verify they are being paid the same as other people, and to prevent women and minority groups from being offered a lower wage. There are also requirements related to preparation of pay transparency reports and prohibitions on seeking information on what job applicants have been paid in the past.

The PTA applies to some silviculture jobs but does not generally apply to tree planters because such workers are normally paid by piece-rate (by the tree). Part 1 of the PTA defines pay as including salary, wage, or commission, as well as certain incentives and money paid at the employer’s discretion. Representatives at the Pay Transparency Unit of the Gender Equity Office have explained that piece-rate is not included in these types of pay, and therefore jobs based on piece-rate are not covered by the PTA.

However, if a silviculture or forestry company were to post a job for a position paid by salary, wage, or commission (including cooks, auxiliary staff, supervisors, and crew bosses) they would be expected to abide by the conditions of the PTA. An employer could also state their piece-rates in job advertisements if they chose, but is under no obligation to do so.

It is expected that all persons on the same worksite performing work with the same specifications would receive the same piece-rate. An employer may award price-increases to workers with particularly difficult assignments but would be in contravention of human rights legislation if differences in piece-rate were based on sex, gender, race or any other protected grounds of discrimination.  The BC Employment Standards Branch has also clearly stated that workers must be informed of the piece-rate before work begins.