Fact Sheet — Statistical Survey Operations Pay Equity Settlement — May 13, 2016

An Interviewer or Senior Interviewer who worked at Statistics Canada between March 8, 1985 and November 5, 1987

and

An Interviewer or Senior Interviewer who worked for SSO between November 6, 1987 and November 30, 2013 and who was in receipt of pay, a maternity or parental allowance, disability benefits or workers' compensation benefits during this period.

Yes the settlement will paid to the estate of the deceased.

Statistics Canada is using administrative records to locate and identify potential claimants. As well, the agency will use internal communication channels, mail outs, newsletters, online channels and traditional media outlets to inform employees and members of the public. For individuals who joined SSO after 1993, Statistics Canada will use employment records to identify and contact eligible employees. Employees who worked as interviewers and senior interviewers from 1985 to1993 are asked to contact Statistics Canada to learn more about the process to make a claim.

A dedicated mail-box has been set up at Statistical Survey Operations, in order that former employees can contact us and leave their current address or e-mail address so we can forward a Pay Equity payment package. The package will contain forms that you will be required to complete and return to Statistics Canada. The e-mail address is:
statcan.ssopayequityoesequitesalariale.statcan@statcan.gc.ca.

You can also send us a letter to:

Statistics Canada
2550 Victoria Park Avenue, 2^nd Floor
Toronto ON M2J 5A9
Attn: SSO Pay Equity Unit

A claim should be submitted as soon as possible

Eligible employees shall have five years from the issuance of the last settlement payment to make a claim.

We are in the process of putting together a dedicated team to work on this project. The goal is to start making payments in early 2017 to those employees who are currently working for SSO. The second group of payments will be made to those employees who worked for SSO between April 1993 and November 2013. The third group of payments will be made to those employees who worked between March 1985 and March 1993.

There are three specific periods when it comes to calculating the payment.

1. March 08, 1985 to November 5, 1987 (Period 1)
   • You will be paid the sum of 100% of the Annual Pay Equity Adjustment (PEA) for the CR-02 classification.
   • The payment will be prorated based on the number of hours you worked in the year (on the basis that a full-time year is made up of 1956.6 hours)
   • For example:
     If you worked 1000 hours from April 1 1985 to March 31 1986; and
     You worked 1200 hours from April 1 1986 to March 31 1987; and
     You worked 750 hours from April 1 1987 to Nov 5 1987, it would be calculated as follows:
     • 1000/1956.6 = .511 $2030 × .511 = $1037.33
     • 1200/1956.6 = .614 $2390 × .614 = $1467.46
     • 750/1956.6 = .384 $2527 × .384 = $970.37
     You would receive a payment of $3,476.16 for this period.

     Period 1 payment calculation

     Year	Annual PEA Rate
     March 8, 1985 – March 31, 1986	$2030
     April 1, 1986 – March 31, 1987	class="text-right"$2390
     April 1, 1987 – November 5, 1987	$2527

2. November 6, 1987 to July 28, 1998 (Period 2)
   • You will be paid the sum of 55% of the Annual Pay Equity Adjustment (PEA) for the CR-02 classification
   • The payment will be prorated based on the number of hours you worked in the year (on the basis that a full-time year is made up of 1956.6 hours)
   • For example, if you worked 1000 hours from April 1 1988 to March 31, 1999
     • 1000/1956.6 = .511
     • $2776 × .511 = $1418.54
     • $1418.54 × 55% = $780.20
     You would receive a payment of $780.20 for this period.

     Period 2 payment calculation

     Year	Annual PEA Rate	Hourly Rate
     November 6, 1987 – March 31, 1988	$2527	$1.289
     April 1, 1988 – March 31, 1989	$2776	$1.419
     April 1, 1989 – March 31, 1990	$2777	$1.420
     April 1, 1990 – March 31, 1991	$3068	$1.568
     April 1, 1991 – March 31, 1992	$3380	$1.728
     April 1, 1992 – March 31, 1993	$3483	$1.781
     April 1, 1993 - March 31, 1994	$3730	$1.907
     April 1, 1994 – March 31, 1995	$3642	$1.862
     April 1, 1995 – March 31, 1996	$3643	$1.862
     April 1, 1996 – March 31, 1997	$3653	$1.867
     April 1, 1997 – March 31, 1998	$1408	$0.720
     April 1, 1998 – July 28, 1998	$706	$0.361

3. July 29, 1998 to November 30, 2013 (Period 3)
   • You will be paid the sum of 45% of the wage difference between
     • The Interviewer (IN-01) and the CR-02 classifications
       or
     • The Senior Interviewer (IN-02) and the CR-02 classifications
   • The payment will be prorated based on the number of hours you worked in the year (on the basis that a full-time year is made up of 1956.6 hours)
   • For example, if you worked 1000 hours as an IN-01 from April 1, 1999 to March 31, 2000
     • 1000 × 0.92 = $920.00
     You would receive a payment of $920.00.
   • Please note that the rates below have already been reduced to 45% of the actual wage gap

     Period 3 payment calculation

     Year	IN-01	IN-02
     July 29, 1998 – March 31, 1999	$1.03	$1.55
     April 1, 1999 – March 31, 2000	$0.92	$1.45
     April 1, 2000 – March 31, 2001	$0.80	$1.32
     April 1, 2001 – March 31, 2002	$0.78	$1.32
     April 1, 2002 – March 31, 2003	$0.68	$1.20
     April 1, 2003 – March 31, 2004	$0.43	$0.91
     April 1, 2004 – March 31, 2005	$0.25	$0.70
     April 1, 2005 – March 31, 2006	$0.26	$0.72
     April 1, 2006 – March 31, 2007	$0.27	$0.74
     April 1, 2007 – March 31, 2008	$0.28	$0.75
     April 1, 2008 – March 31, 2009	$0.25	$0.73
     April 1, 2009 – March 31, 2010	$0.26	$0.74
     April 1, 2010 – March 31, 2011	$0.26	$0.76
     April 1, 2011 – March 31, 2012	$0.27	$0.78
     April 1, 2012 – March 31, 2013	$0.27	$0.78
     April 1, 2013 – November 30, 2013	$0.33	$0.86

The goal is to make one payment for each employee, wherever possible. There may be situations where this is not possible.

In accordance with the agreement, interest will only be paid on those payments made for Period 1 (March 8, 1985 to November 5, 1987). This interest will be calculated based on simple interest using the Canada Savings Bond (CSB) rate. Interest will be calculated semi-annually on 90% of the total payment owing as of March 31^st and September 30^th of each year up until the date of actual payment.

The CSB rates are as follows:

After 2021, the last published rate of 0.50% will be used to calculate interest.

No, the payment will not be considered to be salary for the purposes of Superannuation or Disability Insurance.

As stated above, these hours only count for the period of employment between November 6, 1987 and November 30, 2013.

For the periods of Maternity and Parental leave, we use the Adjusted Average Work Week hours that were used to determine the amount of allowance you received. This is in accordance with the collective agreements at the time.

For the periods where Disability or Workers' Compensation benefits were received, we use the established Average Work Week (AWW) hours on the day immediately preceding the commencement of benefits.

The payment will be structured as follows:

• 60% of the payment will be paid as compensation pursuant to section 53(2) (e) of the Canadian Human Right Act without deduction for tax to a maximum of $20,000.00. This is considered 'damages' and is not reported on a T4/Relevé 1
• 40% of the payment will be paid as compensation in lieu of lost wages (Lost Wages Compensation). This is considered income and is subject to regular statutory deductions (Income Tax, CPP/QPP and EI). This amount is reported on a T4/Relevé 1.
• Should the 60% portion of the payment exceed $20,000.00 the excess amount will be treated as Lost Wages Compensation and be subject to statutory deductions and reported on a T4/Relevé 1.
• The interest paid on any payment from Period 1 is not considered income and therefore is not subject to statutory deductions. This amount will be reported on a T5/Relevé 3.

No, all payments will be made by direct deposit.

We will provide you a breakdown of each period of employment, the number of hours worked in each period, the payment for each period as well as a breakdown of the 60 % portion, the 40% portion and the interest paid on the eligible periods.

You can submit your questions to the above e-mail address or mail them to the above address. We will make every attempt to answer them in a reasonable timeframe. However, this settlement could affect upwards of 20,000 employees, so the focus will be on ensuring that as many people possible receive their payment in a reasonable time. We suggest that you wait until you receive your payment and then if you have any questions or concerns you can contact us at that time.

In this event, you would be able to participate in a three step review process.

• Step 1:You must submit an explanation, in writing, to SSO copied to the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), of the alleged discrepancy with supporting documentation, if available, within one hundred and twenty (120) days of the receipt of payment.
  
  SSO will have forty-five (45) calendar days to communicate its decision to you and send a copy to PSAC.
• Step 2: If you are not satisfied with SSO's decision, you will have fifteen (15) calendar days from the day of receipt of the decision to request a review by a joint PSAC/SSO committee.
• Step 3: If the joint committee cannot reach consensus, PSAC will have thirty (30) calendar days from the date of the final committee meeting to notify you and SSO of its intent to proceed in front of an independent third party.

The result of ruling is that all SSO employees covered under the Settlement Agreement will receive an additional payment proposed by SSO in lieu of paid leave.

The additional payment is a percentage of the total gross payment of the pay equity payment and the percentage is determined by the date an employee stopped SSO work.

1. An employee covered under the Settlement Agreement who stopped SSO work anytime up to and including March 31, 2000 is entitled to an additional payment of eight (8) percent of their total gross pay equity payment.
2. An employee covered under the Settlement Agreement who stopped SSO work on April 1, 2000 or later is entitled to an additional payment of ten (10) percent of their total gross pay equity payment.

In accordance to the arbitration ruling, this additional payment will be treated as compensation pursuant to Section 52 [2] [c] of the Canadian Human Rights Act. This means that it is treated in same manner as the 60% portion of your pay equity payment and is not subject to tax and is not reported on a T4/Rel 1.

Please note that in the event that the total payment of the 60% portion of your pay equity payment and this additional payment exceeds $20,000, any amount above the 20,000 threshold will be treated as Lost Wages compensation and is subject to statutory deductions and reported on a T4/Rel 1 in accordance to paragraph 19 [iii] of the Settlement Agreement.