07: Evaluating Jobs: The Job Evaluation Process

Pay Equity is Back

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Pay equity goes largely ignored.

Gender Pay Gap, 3d Illustration
Festa/Shutterstock

Pushed out of the forefront, it seems that businesses today can no longer pay males and females differently. It’s unreasonable that there is still a systemic problem in our society over equal pay for work of equal value, but the research says it’s true: women in Canada get paid 74.5 cents for every one dollar a male makes. The research also shows that our traditional reasons to justify this gap (that women have less education and work part time) does not hold water anymore.

According to a recent article in the Globe and Mail on global pay equity gaps, Canada is in the top ten of the world. This is not a good list to be top on; out of 34 countries, Canada rates seven in the world for highest percentage of wage discrepancy between the genders.

Click here to read the article.

Canada has to do better and proactively change our compensation practices. On a positive note, some provinces are aware that pay equity gaps are a problem that need to be addressed. On March 8, 2017, all parties voted unanimously to support to resolve the pay equity gap in Newfoundland and Labrador. Women in Newfoundland and Labrador earn an average of 66 cents to the male dollar of earnings.

Click here to read the article.

All organizations have to ensure they are meeting any pay equity legislation in their jurisdiction. Pay equity is closely tied to an organization’s design of their compensation system. Organizations have to ask themselves, would the design of our compensation system stand up to a pay equity due diligence test? If the organization has not completed a comprehensive job evaluation process it would be a very hard argument to defend.

Discussion Questions

  1. Please address each subsection of this question. Why is conducting job evaluations so important to
    • HR in general?
    • An organization’s compensation system?
    • Pay equity laws?
  1. What are some of the differences when conducting a general job evaluation as compared to a pay equity evaluation?

The Gender Gap Persists

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Wage gap concept with blue figure symbolizing men and red pawn women
ibreakstock/Shutterstock

It seems we still have a long way to go, baby.

A recent in-depth study, published by the Globe & Mail, provides us with the statistical reality that the wage gap between male and female Canadian workers still persists.

Click here to read the study.

It is a bit disheartening to read that the issue of wage parity between genders has been ongoing for over twenty years. It seems that we can expect it to continue for the next twenty and beyond unless Canadian employers tackle this issue from a broader economic stance.

The article looks at numerous variables: provincially, nationally and globally. Unfortunately, Canada does not do well on a global level on this issue either. There are numerous explanations and graphs in this article that show not only why the wage gap exists, but also why it continues to persist. While education and access to certain positions in the workforce have increased for women, the opportunities for continuous earnings are not available for this segment of the working population.

An explanation for the continuing gap rests on the argument that women continue to take time away from full-time earnings potential in order to take on the role of primary care-giver for their children and families. Perhaps it is time to consider the monetary value of this role and provide compensation for the woman who takes on the role of primary parent. It might provide one step forward in closing this particular gap.

Discussion Questions:

  1. What impact does the long-term wage gap, based on gender, pose for the Canadian economy?
  2. What are practical steps that a compensation manager can implement in the workplace to close the gender wage gap?
  3. Do you expect that your gender will determine your pay as you launch your career? If not, why not?

Perils of Pay Equity

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a young caucasian man in jeans taking two coins of one euro out of his pocketThe Pay Equity Act in Ontario has been in place since the 1980s. As we know from our studies, this legislation requires employers in Ontario to ensure that compensation levels for the value of work between traditionally designated ‘male’ and ‘female’ jobs are paid equally.

The pay equity process itself is extensive and exhaustive. It is also expensive, if compensation adjustments need to be implemented based on the results of the process. As this is a legislated issue for public sector employers in Ontario, it makes sense that public sector organizations will comply with this mandatory requirement.

Apparently not.

Recently, OPSEU (the union representing employees working with Community Living in Tillsonburg) issued an open letter as a result of the inability of Community Living to make the mandatory pay equity adjustments for its employees.

Click here to read the letter.

Why would any employer choose not to pay, when it is required to do so by law? As with most compensation dilemmas, the issue of affordability comes into play. A news article linked to this story provides an important insight into this seemingly simple pay issue.

Click here to read the article.

Public sector organizations receive their funding from the government. There are very strict parameters in place as to when and how the funding can be used, especially as it is linked to compensation. Given that the government will not fund pay equity adjustments, how can organizations like Community Living pay for mandatory wage adjustments if they do not have the money? It seems to be a Kafkaesque dilemma, as the government requiring the wage adjustments is the same source for funding that will not support the payment of these mandatory adjustments.

In the end, the employer is left holding the bag containing an unfunded liability and an unhappy workforce, which makes a heavy burden for the Compensation Manager to carry.

Discussion Questions:

  1. If you were the Compensation Manager for a public sector organization required to make Pay Equity Payments, what steps would you include to design an affordable compensation plan?
  2. Who should be responsible for ensuring funding for pay equity costs in the public sector? Explain your rationale.