Pay Equity Act — businesses with 10 to 49 employees
A business whose average reached 10 employees over a calendar year is covered by the Act for good. The initial exercise, then the maintenance evaluation every 5 years, have fixed dates. Answer three questions to see yours.
The maintenance file, ready to post
We are preparing a file for businesses with 10 to 49 employees: your calendar with reminders, the register of events to keep, the text of both postings with every mention the Act requires, and the sheet for the DEMES. The amounts are still calculated by CNESST's free tool or by your advisor: we do not calculate them.
Planned at $149, once.
Identify job classes and whether each is predominantly female or male, evaluate the jobs, compare, estimate the gaps and calculate the adjustments. Deadline: 4 years from the date the business is covered. No committee required.
Results are posted for 60 days. Employees may write in during those 60 days; the employer posts again within the following 30 days, for 60 days, the changes made or that none were needed.
On the same date every 5 years, check whether events have created gaps — a new job, a bonus, a targeted raise, a benefit — and correct them. Adjustments are owed from the date of the event, with interest.
The information used and every posting are kept for 6 years from the second posting.
An online statement to CNESST, filed within the same period as the annual update with the Registraire des entreprises by an employer that declared 11 or more employees there.
The online tool MonÉquitéSalariale (access through clicSÉQUR Entreprises), a deadline calculator, checklists, Excel sheets for lump sums and late work, and an events log. Use them for the calculations: we do not redo them.
Yes if, over a calendar year, its average reached 10 employees. It is covered from the following 1 January, and stays covered even if headcount later drops below 10.
Every 5 years, on the same date, the employer checks whether events since the last time have recreated gaps between predominantly female and male job classes, and pays the adjustments owed. Results are posted for 60 days, then a second posting follows.
An employer that declared 11 or more employees to the Registraire des entreprises the previous year, online, within the same period as its annual update. It states whether the exercise and maintenance were done and on what dates.
Above all, retroactive pay adjustments with interest from the date they were owed. CNESST may also audit, issue a decision, publish the employer's name in its list of non-compliant employers and prosecute.
Not for a business with 10 to 49 employees. For maintenance, a participation process is required only if the business has a certified association or had formed a committee.
Pay Equity Act (CQLR, c. E-12.001), sections 6, 34 to 37, 76 to 76.8, as published and annotated by CNESST; CNESST, “La Déclaration de l'employeur en matière d'équité salariale (DEMES)”, 2026.
This page is informational and is not legal advice. The calendar follows from your answers; check your dates with CNESST. PlanSST is a private company, not affiliated with the CNESST.