Law360 Canada ( May 6, 2021, 6:17 AM EDT) -- Appeal by the Participating Nursing Homes from a Divisional Court decision setting aside a decision of the Pay Equity Hearings Tribunal that held the proxy method was not to be used to maintain pay equity under the Pay Equity Act. In the nursing homes in question, there were no male job classes with which female job classes could be directly compared. For women in these workplaces, the Act provided a proxy method whereby a female job class, from an establishment where pay equity had already been achieved using a male comparator, was deemed to be the male job class. The parties disputed whether the proxy method was also to be used in ensuring that pay equity was maintained. The Tribunal found that the proxy method was extraordinary and viewed an ongoing requirement to obtain information from the proxy employer as a substantial practical impediment. The Divisional Court determined that while the Act did not contravene s. 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (Charter), the Tribunal erred in failing to consider Charter values when interpreting the Act and that the only proportionate balancing of the Charter right of equality with the statutory mandate of the Act, properly construed, required the maintenance of pay equity in predominantly female workplaces through the proxy method of comparison....