Women's Economic Equality
Why do we need pay equity laws?
The simple answer is that without laws (or unions fighting for higher wages), employers will pay as little as possible for wages. If they can get away with paying women less, they will.
Until the 1950s, men and women working side by side, doing exactly the same job were paid different wages. This was no secret. "Help Wanted" ads actually listed "mens rates" and "women's rates".
Why did this change? Because women and unions fought for changes to labour standards legislation to make it illegal. Since the 50s employers must pay men and women equal pay for doing the same job. Good laws work.
What is pay equity?
Equal pay for equal work - same pay for the same job - was one step forward. But, in the reality of the working world, men and women are concentrated in very different kinds of work. Almost 70% of women workers are in clerical, education, health care, sales, service and administration jobs. While these jobs are skilled and often involve heavy responsibilities, they are generally undervalued and low paid.
The concept of pay equity requires employers to compare male dominated and female dominated jobs based on the skills and effort required for the job; on the amount of responsibility the job requires; and on the working conditions of the job. The value of jobs can be determined - employers do it all the time.
Study after study has shown that when traditional women's work is compared to traditional men's work on these four criteria, women's jobs with the same value are underpaid. If the value of the jobs is equal, then the jobs should receive equal pay.
But we need pay equity laws to ensure positive action by employers. Without such laws, this situation will continue, women's work will continue to be undervalued and underpaid.
Don't we have pay equity laws in Canada?
Yes - but not all pay equity laws are created equal.
Only Ontario and Quebec have proactive pay equity laws which cover both the public and private sector. Other provinces enacted pay equity legislation that covered only the public sector and didn't require pay equity to be maintained. Still other jurisdictions, including federal law, have provisions in their human rights laws, which depend on an individual filing an official complaint against her employer.
To see the state of the law in your province, territory or federally, please go to the Status Report on Pay Equity Laws in Canada in this section.
Why is proactive pay equity law better than complaint-based?
Proactive pay equity laws require employers and unions to take positive action to examine pay systems and eliminate discrimination in wages.
Proactive legislation is more effective because:
- it is comprehensive, covering all workers in the workplace;
- it recognizes that wage discrimination is a systemic, not an individual, problem;
- it combines legislative direction, collective bargaining and enforcement with the option of neutral adjudication of any dispute;
- it changes the structures of organizations and makes organizational change more durable;
- it combines human rights with labour and human resources plans.
Proactive legislation is the best way to get employers and unions to the table to deal with equal pay issues - at a separate table, not subject to trade offs for other benefits or wages.
Complaint-based pay equity is less effective because:
- it doesn't work;
- the burden is on individual employees to take on their employer;
- delay and confusion are the norm, since human right laws are vague and allow employers to delay and challenge individual and union attempts to win equal pay for work of equal value;
- employers can and have tied up pay equity complaints through long and costly legal proceedings. Under the federal laws, these complaints have taken years and even decades to resolve;
- there is no incentive for employers to provide pay equity.
It saves them money to ignore or avoid the law. And, since only those employers who face complaints or deal with unions who have demanded pay equity, the "playing field" is not level. A proactive law which covers all employers would eliminate this disincentive to provide equal pay for work of equal value.
What can you do?
- Talk to other women at work or in your community about the issue;
- Use our pay equity sales coupons to get the conversation started;
- You can also order copies of the coupons to distribute in your workplace or community - here. They're free!
- Call, write or visit your MP and ask what he or she will do to ensure that the recommendations of the federal Pay Equity Task Force are implemented
- Write a letter to the editor or an article for your local paper about the issue - and, if you do get an answer from your MP, share it with the media.
- Find out what's going on in your province or territory and join with others to improve pay equity where you live. (Check out the Status of Pay Equity in Canada here.)