How Gender Gaps Have Been Reduced
The pay equity commission has helped to reduce the gender wage gap in Ontario for over thirty years. This is because all the jurisdictions in Canada, Ontario included, have equal pay legislation, and some even have pay equity legislations. As such, an employer is forced to pay both men and women equal pay for work that needs an application of the same skill, for the same job that is performed in the same establishment under similar working conditions and requiring the same responsibility and effort. In the same line, pay equity legislations demands equal wage for both men and women for tasks of same value (Moyser, 2017) . This is assessed by reviewing the responsibility, effort and job working conditions regardless of whether or not they are similar. Therefore, employers are required to pay male and female employees equally for work of the same value even if they do entirely different jobs ( Beaudoin & Demeyere, 2018) . However, this is only applicable if the jobs done are in the same establishment. Besides, in Ontario, the pay equity laws are applied in all jurisdictions except private sector employers with employees not exceeding ten. This federal pay equity system is currently a complaint-based model, and hence employees whose employers are not adhering to pay equity legislations can report.
Initiatives Taken
The government of Ontario has taken several initiatives that include developing legislations taken by other jurisdictions such as Germany, Australia and Germany. This act required the province to publish pay transparency reports online. Besides, it requires all salary rates for publicly advertised jobs to be indicated. This has worked towards ensuring that the gender wage gap is reduced since it ensures that the rights of employees are respected by their employers and especially the female employees. Besides, the act demands that employees do not ask job candidates about their initial compensations since it would cause unnecessary biasness in terms of pay. However, in cases where some employees disclose or discuss their initial salaries, there should be no reprisals made against them. This is because the government realized that many employers exploited job candidates after revealing their previous pays.
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Moreover, the Act requires that employees who are subscribed to the act and those with more than one hundred employees to annually track and report gender-based compensation gaps as well as pay transparency reports. These pay transparency reports will also have to be posted online by employers as well as in every workplace of the employer. In addition to the regulations, other employers other than those with employees exceeding one hundred will be expected to post their reports ( Singh & Peng, 2010) . Employers found to contravene pay transparency regulations will, therefore, be imposed on penalties by compliance officers. However, if employers report the general gap among employees in the organization can address different issues. Hence, it would be more practical to report the difference among the employees in the same job role or the same position.
In conclusion, the pay equity commission has reduced the gender wage gap in Ontario. These new legislations add rigor to the monitoring capabilities of the government. Besides, employers having published differences are at risk of reputational damage stemming from the media and the public ( Ontario Equal Coalition, 2016) . One other significant adjustment for employers is the need to indicate salary ranges in job advertisements and the ban on salary questions. This is because it is common for employers to base their salary offers based on their initial employees’ compensations. Therefore, employers should ensure that pay policies are free from unconscious gender biasness. The employers will also have to look for a way to comply with stricter rules about salaries by making the necessary adjustments to the recruitment process.
References
Beaudoin, J. D., & Demeyere, G. P. (2018). Minding the Gap: Pay Equity and the Role of Law in Narrowing Canada's Gender Wage Gap (Doctoral dissertation, Master’s Thesis, University of Western Ontario, Canada).
Singh, P., & Peng, P. (2010). Canada's bold experiment with pay equity. Gender in Management: An International Journal .
Ontario Equal Coalition . (2016, January). Retrieved from Ontario Pay Equity Advocacy Timeline: http://equalpaycoalition.org/history-of-pay-equity-advocacy-in-ontario/
Moyser, M. (2017, March 9). Symbol of Statistics Canada . Retrieved from Women and Paid Work: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/89-503-x/2015001/article/14694-eng.htm
