Gender equality is a hot topic of debate across many industries. From film to finance, more people are becoming aware of disparities in pay between men and women, and the calls for justice are growing louder. In 2015, the UN’s Human Rights Committee raised concerns about the gender pay gap’s disproportionate effect on racialized, Indigenous and low-income women, which results in less career advancement opportunities and lower retirement savings.
Observation days such as Equal Pay Day were created to highlight how far into the new year the average woman must work to make the same as the average man. Though some businesses have taken steps to address it, unfortunately, it still remains. According to the OECD, Canada has the seventh-worst gender pay gap for full-time employees. Let’s take a closer look at some policies pertaining to this practice to develop a better understanding of what needs to be done to close the gender pay gap.
Numbers Tell The Story
Salary audits are effective at providing greater transparency around pay discrepancies. In Canada, the majority of employers aren’t monitoring gender pay gaps. The Pay Equity Act applies only to federally regulated sectors, which means not all companies have to report on this issue.
This could result in less accountability as the legislation is not equally enforced across the board. Data analysis of pay structure to identify disparities can be challenging and costly for many companies.
Steps that can be taken to remedy this issue could involve government action to apply the Pay Equity Act to private sectors and promote the benefits of participating by stressing greater productivity and employee morale, which will likely translate into improved output and employee retention.
Workplace Flexibility Is Key
Lack of affordable and reliable childcare means many women often work part-time or must take time off work to care for their children.
Pregnancy leave can also impact women’s career trajectories and potentially hinder chances at promotion. Women are an integral part of the workforce and deserve to be recognized as such.
Employers must offer improved accommodation, whether it is a hybrid work-from-home model, parental leave benefits or educational subsidies to encourage women to keep abreast of industry trends.
One step the Canadian government can take is to mandate flexible work arrangements for all workers under specific criteria that also benefits employers. They can also recognize stay-at-home parenting as a full-time occupation and pay a monthly wage for the first formative years of a child’s life.
Since childcare during infancy is largely a woman’s responsibility, such legislation can go a long way to addressing the gender pay gap.
Compensating women for what often amounts to years of unpaid labour can improve outcomes by valuing the work they do to raise the next generation of Canadian citizens.
Greater Pay Transparency Is Needed
Recently, high-profile Hollywood female actors made headlines with shocking revelations of being vastly underpaid compared to their male counterparts.
This incident demonstrates that pay inequity is a deep-seated practice based on gender and racial discrimination that is finally being brought to light. Legislature must be enacted in every profession to make salary range information accessible.
Furthermore, companies should be penalized if they fail to abide by this policy. Iceland has made it a criminal offense for companies to ignore pay gaps if they are revealed by salary audits. Canada can do more to enact similar measures.
In 2018, the Ontario Government passed pay transparency legislation that would have improved the process. However, those measures were delayed by the provincial government.
In the meantime, people need to act at the grassroots level and put pressure on the government to do more to ensure that pay transparency legislation is upheld and implemented.
Collective Bargaining Power
Unions can negotiate on behalf of women workers for equal pay for work of equal value. Card check legislation is one of the policies that promote access to collective bargaining so that more women are represented.
There is power in numbers, and unions are renowned for their ability to protect worker rights. Though efforts made by some companies to close the gender pay gap are commendable, more care needs to be done to address and hopefully eradicate this issue altogether.
Concerted efforts from both government and professional bodies are necessary to ensure compliance with legislation and encourage corporate responsibility. Incentivizing employers to follow through with policies would also be beneficial.
The day we don’t have to celebrate Equal Pay Day means that victory has, at long last, been attained.
Frankie D. Fredrix | Contributing Writer
