Pay Equity is based on the value of work provided regardless of gender. The work often refers to of equal duties or comparable value to company.
In 1977 the Canadian Human Rights Act includes a section that makes it a discriminatory practice for an employer to “establish or maintain differences in wages between male and female employees employed in the same establishment who are performing work of equal value”.
A major component to ensure compliance in Pay Equity is to understand how to conduct Job Evaluations. The HR Council of Canada defines job evaluation as “the systematic process for accessing the relative worth of jobs within an organization”.
Laws:
– Ontario and Quebec employers with 10 of more employees must adhere to the pay equity compliance
– A Pay Equity Plan and report must be filed with the Ontario government each year
– Ontario Pay Equity Act established in 1987, Quebec Charter established in 1978 and Canadian Human Rights established in 1977 can be used as references
How to stay complaint:
– Group your job role/titles into classes that are similar in duties, responsibilities and qualifications
– Determine the job rates using the highest and lowest salaries in the group
– Conduct a job evaluation and analysis based on each employee in each job class
– Make your adjustments and document the changes
Resources:
HRPA Closing the Gender Wage Gap – a great article employers and HR professional should review
ADP fact sheet about Pay Equity in Ontario
Job Evaluation article posted by Hays Group provides useful resources to help you with this process.