Advocates say Canadian companies need pay transparency to address pay gap – National

As popular lack of laborforcing Canadian companies to re-evaluate their recruitment and retention practices, experts say pay transparency is increasingly in the spotlight.

Outside of the public sector and union shops, wages in North America have long been considered a private matter between employers and employees. Job postings often don’t reveal salaries and bonuses, and money issues often don’t surface until the interview stage or even after.

But a growing number of advocates say that needs to change, partly to address issues of gender and racial equality, but also to keep talented employees in the workforce.

Allison Venditti, founder of Moms at Work, a Canada-based organization, said: “I always intend to tell my kids years from now that there was a time when you applied for a job. and don’t know how much it pays,” said Allison Venditti, founder of Moms at Work, a Canada-based organization that advocates for women in the workforce. “And they’ll think it’s ridiculous.”

Moms At Work has launched an online job board that requires all job postings to disclose the full salary for the position. Venditti said the employment board is needed because salary transparency is one way to tackle society’s wage disparity problem.

“Basically, women and people of color are underpaid. We know this,” Venditti said. “We’ve been talking about wage disparity since time immemorial and today, and this is one of the fastest ways to help fix it.”

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Several jurisdictions are getting in on the payment transparency bandwagon. Colorado has a law that requires employers to include wages in all job postings. A similar mandate will go into effect in New York City this spring.

Last year, the Canadian government passed the Fair Pay Act, which will eventually require all federally regulated workplaces with 100 or more employees to make wage disparity data public. women, indigenous peoples, people with disabilities and members of clear minorities.

“It’s something companies will have to start preparing for,” said Laura Machan, recruiting partner at the Toronto office of LHH, a global HR firm. “Partly because governments, both federal and provincial, started asking for it and partly because it was part of the ESG goals with their boards, to be a better corporate citizen. .”

But the problem is a complex one, Machan said. Many companies can’t just start publishing salaries without doing a lot of internal work first.

“Imagine if one of your highly regarded, longtime employees saw a job opening that was 10% higher than what they were earning,” she says. “I think there’s a lot of work to be done to make sure the internal pay framework is fair before you even start posting.”

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The nonprofit FoodShare Toronto is an employer that discloses salaries in its job postings. Katie German, FoodShare’s director of advocacy and programs, said the organization has seen a steady increase in job applicants since the policy’s introduction.

“We actually have a policy where we don’t negotiate wages. But we are also a living wage employer, no one working here makes less than $24 an hour,” said German.

“I think one reason many employers are not transparent about pay is because they know they pay too little. If you feel embarrassed posting your salary, it’s a clear sign that you need to do even better.”

Jen Aitchison of Sutton, Ont., said she quit her job in the insurance industry after discovering after-hours drinks she made 30% less than a male co-worker new to the organization than her. The revelation made her feel disrespected and appreciated.

“People say ‘oh, women negotiate badly,’ but I don’t think that’s true,” said Aitchison.

For her part, Aitchison believes there is a business case to be made for the company to be more transparent about compensation – especially now, as companies compete for talent amid shortages. common labor.

“Companies need to know that eventually, employees who have been with them for 10 years will find out that Joe, the new guy, is making $20,000 more than she is. And she can leave,” Aitchison said.

“The notion that many women have of ‘I have to go to get paid for my worth’ is hurting organizations more than they know.”