PSAC Pay Equity Bulletin

No sign of a court room yet for interest payments taxation case

The union’s test case (Burrows v. Her Majesty) challenging the taxation of interest payments on federal pay equity adjustments likely won’t be heard in the Tax Court until much later this year - at the earliest. That puts the release of a decision from the Court well into 2004. At this time, it is impossible to speculate as to when a final decision will be reached because either party may then appeal the Tax Court decision.

Last October, the union reported that the case had moved into the discovery stage. The discovery stage is an important one because evidence which is not disclosed at this stage will likely not be allowed to be introduced when the case is actually heard in the Tax Court.

Anyone familiar with PSAC’s struggles to achieve pay equity won’t be surprised to learn that discovery is taking longer than expected. Part of the discovery process involves either the PSAC or the government asking the other party to undertake to provide additional information relevant to the case. The government is currently taking a union request for information under advisement, which means that they’re deciding whether or not to produce it . While this is an essential part of the process, if all the necessary evidence is to be gathered, it can add significantly to the time it takes to get the case heard.

However, just because a case takes time, doesn’t mean that it won’t be ultimately successful. Don’t forget that while it has taken many frustrating years to resolve some of PSAC’s pay equity complaints, the union’s actions have produced considerable monetary benefits for current and former members.

Updates will be posted periodically as the case proceeds.