Discrimination in annual salary being on PR vs work permit

[Singhgem]

Hi,

I have moved from USA to Canada this month on PR and I am working with the same employer, same project, same role, same team. My employer saved their billing position by transferring me from USA to Canada even without paying visa/travel expenses and I was ok with that. Once I reached Canada, I received my deputation letter with salary around 52k CAD per year which was supposed to be around 75k CAD (in par with USA salary). The other employees who moved from USA to Canada on work permit from same team, same role, same projects are getting the same in par US salary because my employer needs to satisfy Labor court Canada conditions. I am being told that my case is of PR so there is no interaction with Labor court so they are trying to save the money from my annual salary. This is just a discrimination based on my immigration status. Can anyone suggest or assist how can I take this further to labor court or sue my employer?

 

[harirajmohan]

Hi,

I have moved from USA to Canada this month on PR and I am working with the same employer, same project, same role, same team. My employer saved their billing position by transferring me from USA to Canada even without paying visa/travel expenses and I was ok with that. Once I reached Canada, I received my deputation letter with salary around 52k CAD per year which was supposed to be around 75k CAD (in par with USA salary). The other employees who moved from USA to Canada on work permit from same team, same role, same projects are getting the same in par US salary because my employer needs to satisfy Labor court Canada conditions. I am being told that my case is of PR so there is no interaction with Labor court so they are trying to save the money from my annual salary. This is just a discrimination based on my immigration status. Can anyone suggest or assist how can I take this further to labor court or sue my employer?

Correct, no labor conditions to be met.
You should have gotten deputation letter before moving. Move out once you find some other job as moving with some job is also very very important for transition from one country to another. So dont take rash decisions without getting a new job.

 

[Singhgem]

Correct, no labor conditions to be met.
You should have gotten deputation letter before moving. Move out once you find some other job as moving with some job is also very very important for transition from one country to another. So dont take rash decisions without getting a new job.

@harirajmohan thanks for your reply !! Job change is for sure on my list. But can't I challenge this discrimination legally ??

 

[zardoz]

Hi,

I have moved from USA to Canada this month on PR and I am working with the same employer, same project, same role, same team. My employer saved their billing position by transferring me from USA to Canada even without paying visa/travel expenses and I was ok with that. Once I reached Canada, I received my deputation letter with salary around 52k CAD per year which was supposed to be around 75k CAD (in par with USA salary). The other employees who moved from USA to Canada on work permit from same team, same role, same projects are getting the same in par US salary because my employer needs to satisfy Labor court Canada conditions. I am being told that my case is of PR so there is no interaction with Labor court so they are trying to save the money from my annual salary. This is just a discrimination based on my immigration status. Can anyone suggest or assist how can I take this further to labor court or sue my employer?

Any employer who is acting like this needs to be dumped. You may not be able to legally challenge the situation but you can certainly tell them where to stick their job. Make sure you are indispensable first...

 

[lampbreaker]

You need to talk to a lawyer. Get responses from your employers in email/written form for evidence.

 

[harirajmohan]

@harirajmohan thanks for your reply !! Job change is for sure on my list. But can't I challenge this discrimination legally ??

No. Its same as some employer offering you X salary which is less than your expected salary. The offer can be declined or accepted by you.
Example: If they are bringing a H1 to working in the US for a specific job then they need to pay for example 80k as per lca. But they can very well hire any GC/citizen for 60k. So its totally legal and nothing illegal about it.

In your case you should have gotten the deployment/transfer letter before you actually move to a new country, which they always do if you go abroad as a work permit holder but for PR they just used the chance by giving letter as a surprise after you moved so that they have upper hand to block any negotiation.

 

[Singhgem]

No. Its same as some employer offering you X salary which is less than your expected salary. The offer can be declined or accepted by you.
Example: If they are bringing a H1 to working in the US for a specific job then they need to pay for example 80k as per lca. But they can very well hire any GC/citizen for 60k. So its totally legal and nothing illegal about it.

In your case you should have gotten the deployment/transfer letter before you actually move to a new country, which they always do if you go abroad as a work permit holder but for PR they just used the chance by giving letter as a surprise after you moved so that they have upper hand to block any negotiation.

thanks @harirajmohan

 

[DEEPCUR]

I think a complaint to Labor department might work.

Do you they have anything publicly displayed on wages similar to LCA that is there in US? If such a thing exists, I think you will have some luck. But even those things are displayed for exact opposite situation.. for citizens and PR holders to raise complaints when someone on work permit gets paid less. like a case could be made for substituting citizens/PR holders using under paid visa holders.

I also checked the grounds for discrimination, and unfortunately, there is no immigration present in the list.

https://www.chrc-ccdp.gc.ca/eng/content/what-discrimination

May be you could try with race or nationality, but not sure.

 

[21Goose]

It's not discrimination because you aren't a member of a protected class (PR). If you can prove that you're getting paid less because of one of the grounds for discrimination, then you have a case.

You can talk to a lawyer with experience in labor laws to be certain, but I believe the best option here is to find another job. Your colleagues may be getting paid more, but they cannot easily leave. You can.

 

[mad_hatter]

It is not surprising that your company pays US based employees more money. US based employees have a lot more expense than their Canadian counterpart. They have to maintain a home in the US and one in Canada. They would also have to pay to travel home to visit family. They also have to pay Canadian income tax, which is higher then the US income tax.