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Employer Thresholds

Company size requirements determining which pay equity obligations apply

Why This Matters

Employer thresholds balance regulatory impact with administrative burden, recognizing that compliance costs may be disproportionate for small organizations. However, thresholds also create gaps in protection - workers at small employers may face discrimination without recourse. Threshold levels reflect policy choices about where to focus enforcement resources for maximum impact. Organizations near threshold boundaries face strategic decisions about growth, restructuring, and compliance timing. Understanding thresholds is essential for multi-entity organizations that must determine whether entities are aggregated or assessed separately.

How It's Measured

Employee counts typically use specific methodologies defined in regulations: full-time equivalent calculations, snapshot dates vs. average headcount over periods, inclusion/exclusion of certain worker categories (contractors, part-time, international), and rules for counting employees across multiple legal entities. Compliance is assessed by reviewing entity structure, employee counts at trigger dates, proper aggregation of affiliated entities, and timely recognition when threshold is crossed. Penalties for misrepresenting employee counts to avoid compliance can be severe.

How to Comply & Mitigate Risk

Organizations approaching thresholds should: accurately track employee counts using regulatory definitions, understand aggregation rules for corporate groups, prepare compliance infrastructure before crossing thresholds, budget for compliance costs in growth planning, and consider voluntary adoption of best practices even if below thresholds. Multi-entity organizations must carefully review controlled group rules, joint employer tests, and related entity aggregation requirements. Some jurisdictions provide grace periods or phased compliance when thresholds are newly crossed; organizations should understand and leverage these transition provisions.

Common Requirements

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Employee count triggers

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Phased implementation schedules

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Small employer exemptions

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Group entity aggregation rules

Jurisdictions with Employer Thresholds Requirements

19 jurisdictions have legislation covering this topic area

Employer Thresholds

Why This Matters

How It's Measured

How to Comply & Mitigate Risk

Common Requirements

Jurisdictions with Employer Thresholds Requirements

Iceland

United Kingdom

Germany

France

Spain

Austria

Sweden

Denmark

Italy

Ireland

California (USA)

New York (USA)

Canada (Federal)

Ontario (Canada)

British Columbia (Canada)

Australia

Japan

Switzerland

Finland