Spring 2015 Update:
Bill 8 received Royal Assent December 11, 2014. The College Employer Council has been developing an Executive Compensation Framework, ready to submit to the government for their approval. Once this framework is approved, Deans in particular will no longer be covered under wage restraint.
Background, Fall 2014:
According to a brief prepared by the law firm Hicks Morley – after legislation was reintroduced as Bill 8 (previously Bill 179) – the Public Sector and MPP Accountability and Transparency Act, 2014, if passed, will give the government the authority to create comprehensive compensation frameworks for certain employers, including colleges. It also contains a new statute called the Broader Public Sector Executive Compensation Act, 2014 (BPSCEA), which complements the Broader Public Sector Accountability Act (2012).
Click here to read the Hicks Morely brief.
What is relevant to college administrators? (highlights taken from the Hicks Morley brief):
- The Designated Executive is redefined, removing Provosts and Deans of colleges (and universities) from the list (unless they hold executive-level positions as captured in the framework). Executive-level positions will continue to include those that report directly to the President and earn greater than $100,000.
- Employers covered by this legislation will need to submit proposed compensation frameworks that will guide compensation of executives (this might be done as a sector)
- Once a compensation framework is in place, performance pay envelope rules (as defined in the BPSAA) will no longer apply.
Bill 8 has passed first reading. For more information about the status of the legislation, and to read the Act in its entirety, click here.
OCASA has made two significant submissions around wage restraint in the past two years. To read those submissions, click here. In particular, OCASA has argued for the lifting of wage restraint on non-executives (noting salary compression for Chairs and Paybands 5-8) and for removing ìDeansî as designated executives.