PUBLIC SECTOR SALARY DISCLOSURE

Ontario's Public Sector Salary Disclosure

Each year, since the Public Sector Salary Disclosure Act was passed in 1996, the Ontario Government has published a compendium on public sector employees who were paid a salary of $100,000 or more. Organizations that receive public funding from the Province of Ontario are required to disclose the names, positions, salaries and taxable benefits of these employees.

PURPOSE OF THE ACT

The purpose of this law is to provide a more open and accountable system of government. It lets taxpayers compare the performance of an organization with the compensation given to the people running it. People paid $100,000 or more a year are usually the senior employees in an organization. It also provides taxpayers with more details on how their tax dollars are spent.

PUBLIC ORGANIZATIONS COVERED

The Act covers city and other local governments, universities and colleges, school boards, hospitals, and Crown agencies such as Ontario Place. It also applies to the Provincial Government ministries and members of the Assembly. Other non-profit organizations that receive a large share of their funding from the provincial government are covered as well. To determine if an organization is covered by the Act, contact the organization or the Ministry that funds it.

OTHER ORGANIZATIONS COVERED

Some types of non-profit organizations are explicitly covered by the Act and must provide salary disclosures. Most non-profit organizations, however, are required to disclose because they received significant funding from the Government of Ontario in that year. Generally, "funding" means transfer payments. It does not mean payments for goods and services used by the government, or loans that will be repaid.

Non-profit organizations receiving $1 million in funding or more are covered.

Organizations receiving between $120,000 and $1 million are included if the funding they receive is 10 per cent or more of their gross revenues.

Organizations receiving less than $120,000 are excluded, unless they are one of the types explicitly covered by the Act. This funding level is the same as the reporting level for transfer payments in Volume 3 of the Public Accounts of Ontario - Detailed Schedules of Payments.

THE PUBLIC SECTOR SALARY DISCLOSURE AMENDMENT ACT, 2004

The Public Sector Salary Disclosure Amendment Act, 2004 received Royal Assent on April 15, 2004.

SALARY DISCLOSURE IN ANNUAL REPORTS

Employers are now relieved from having to include salary disclosure with their annual reports if that disclosure is made available on a public website (a corporate website or the Ministry of Finance website).

Prior to the amendment, the Public Sector Salary Disclosure Act required an employer, which normally issues an annual report, to include the salary disclosure with their annual report.

This change reduces red tape and eliminates the duplication of reporting obligations. It ensures compliance with the amended legislation and the information remains readily available to the public while decreasing costs for employers in preparing the annual reports.

HYDRO ONE AND ONTARIO POWER GENERATION SALARY DISCLOSURE

This legislation specifies that Hydro One Inc., Ontario Power Generation Inc. and each of their subsidiaries are part of the public sector and designates them as public sector "employers" for the purposes of the Act.

Hydro One Inc., Ontario Power Generation Inc. and each of their subsidiaries are required to provide salary disclosure to the Ministry of Energy. This applies for 2004 and future years.

WHY CAN'T I FIND SPECIFIC ORGANIZATIONS

Many reasons can explain why you cannot find an organization. After ensuring that the organization is not in any of the categories, verify if the organization is included in the "No Employee Salaries to Disclose".

Some of the salary data is not submitted to the government until after the deadline or at the last minute. To get the information out in a timely fashion, the Ministry of Finance will produce a compendium by March 31 and a subsequent addendum when additional information is available.

Some organizations do not disclose because the funding received is under the threshold set by the funding condition explained above.

Ultimately, the employer is responsible for making the disclosure or the statement of No Employee Salaries to Disclose available to the public.

WHAT'S INCLUDED IN $100,000 SALARY

The $100,000 figure means salary before taxes, and does not include taxable benefits. However, for those who are paid $100,000 or more, the total value of these taxable benefits must be disclosed. To make it easy for organizations to comply, the definition of salary paid and taxable benefits is identical to that on the Canada Revenue Agency T4 slip. The Act does not authorize employers to disclose what the specific benefits are.

I HAVE FOUND MISTAKES, HOW CAN THEY BE CORRECTED

If the information included in the Compendium has been reported incorrectly, it can be corrected in the Addendum, which is published in April or May on this site. If you think some information has been reported incorrectly, contact the organization. This will allow the organization to verify the information and provide their ministry's Public Sector Salary Disclosure contact with accurate information for the Addendum.

COMPLIANCE

All organizations that are covered by this Act must prepare a list each year of the employees who were paid $100,000 or more the year before, with their names, positions, salaries and the value of their taxable benefits. Each organization must make the list available on their premises, in a place where any member of the public can easily see and review it. The list must be available for inspection without charge between March 31 and December 31 of the year it is disclosed.

NON-COMPLIANCE

The Government of Ontario can withhold part or all of the transfer payment to an employer who did not disclose, however, the funds would be paid once the employer complies. Employers who do not comply within one year are no longer entitled to the payment that was withheld

LIABILITY

An employer cannot be held liable for making a disclosure in accordance with the Act, or if the employer reasonably believed it was required to make the disclosure. A non-disclosure clause in an employment contract can't be used to avoid disclosure. The Act authorizes the employer to release only specific information.

GETTING COPIES OF THE LIST

The organization must provide a copy, even after the period discussed above. There may be a charge of 20 cents per page. A compendium of the lists of all organizations disclosing salaries, as well as organizations stating they have no employee salaries at $100,000 or more, is also available on the Ministry of Finance web site. The complete report, or sections thereof, can be easily printed from the web site. The address is:
English - http://www.fin.gov.on.ca/english/publications/salarydisclosure/2006/index.html
French - http://www.fin.gov.on.ca/french/publications/salarydisclosure/2006/index.html

Or contact Publications Ontario at: 1-800-668-9938 for a hard copy of the Compendium.