What is the gender gap?

The gender gap is the difference between men and women regarding opportunities, treatment, pay, representation, and various other aspects of society, including the workplace, education, and politics. It often highlights inequalities between genders and aims to address and rectify them for greater gender equality.

What causes the gender gap?

There are several causes for the gender pay gap, including:

• Historical discrimination
• Cultural norms and stereotypes
• Unequal access to education and employment opportunities
• Gender bias in hiring and promotion practices
• Lack of support for work-life balance
• Unequal pay for equal work
• Limited representation of women in leadership positions

These factors frequently contribute to systemic differences that result in inequalities between men and women in various aspects, including income, career advancement, and decision-making roles. Addressing the gender gap typically requires coordinated efforts to challenge and change these underlying factors to promote gender equality.

Discriminatory hiring and pay practices can strengthen the gender pay gap, typically coming from unspoken biases among hiring managers and employers. This bias may result in women earning less than men for the same roles, especially when employers use salary history as the determining factor. Occupational segregation, where lower-paying industries like service jobs often over-represent women, can contribute to the gap. Family leave and childcare policies can also play a role, as women are more likely to take time off for caregiving responsibilities, impacting their long-term earning potential.

Employers with inadequate family leave and childcare support may force employees, regardless of gender, into lower-paying roles with fewer benefits. These practices can hinder efforts to address the gender pay gap and create challenges for employees striving for fair compensation and work-life balance.

Negotiate salary to help break down barriers

Equal Pay Day is a symbolic reminder of the gender pay gap, highlighting the inequalities in earnings between men and women. This date varies annually, depending on when the average median woman catches up to what the average median man earned in the previous year.

Negotiating salaries is a significant part of advocating for equal compensation for all individuals, regardless of gender. By negotiating their salary, employees can break down barriers by asserting their worth, challenging existing disparities, and working towards fair and equitable compensation in the workplace. Recognizing the importance of salary negotiation can help employees advocate for themselves and contribute to the ongoing effort to promote pay equity on Equal Pay Day and beyond.

Pay transparency for Canadian employers

Pay transparency is when employers disclose salary ranges for job postings, prohibit inquiries about salary history during the hiring process, and promote fair pay practices. It can help address wage gaps and promote equality by providing employees with information about salary expectations and preventing discriminatory practices related to compensation. In Canada, federal pay equity laws primarily cover most public sector employers. However, several provinces have extended pay equity regulations to include the private sector. Some provinces have introduced pay transparency legislation alongside these measures.

The Canadian Federal Pay Equity Act typically applies to federally regulated employers with ten or more employees. These workplaces include various sectors such as banks, transportation, infrastructure, postal services, and communications, public sector workplaces such as government offices, and parliamentary institutions like the House of Commons.

What are the requirements of Canada’s Pay Equity Act?

This legislation mandates that employers covered by the Pay Equity Act perform regular assessments to identify and fix pay disparities in roles traditionally held by women. It suggests that organizations actively examine their salary practices to ensure equitable compensation for work of comparable value across genders. This strategy can involve comparing roles traditionally held by women (such as customer service) to those usually held by men (like maintenance). Employers of a specific size require a pay equity committee, while all covered employers need a pay equity plan. The plan typically includes:

• Identifying job categories and determining the gender composition of each category
• Assessing the value of each job based on working conditions, complexity, responsibility, and required skills
• Evaluating the compensation for each job category
• Comparing the compensation between male-dominated and female-dominated jobs of similar value
• Determining necessary adjustments to the pay structure to ensure equitable compensation for job categories of similar value
• Sharing the pay equity plan with the entire organization
• Periodically reviewing and updating the plan

How can employers close the gender gap?

Because the gender pay gap doesn’t have a singular cause, there isn’t a quick fix for reducing the pay disparity between men and women. However, there are various strategies employers can adopt to help narrow the gap. Below are some steps you can take to address the pay gap and promote pay transparency within your organization:

• Assess your current position. Determine where your organization stands regarding pay transparency and where you want it to be.
• Perform a pay equity analysis. You can use various salary analysis tools to evaluate your existing compensation structure and check for discrepancies in pay based on gender, ethnicity, seniority, and education. Working with legal counsel when performing a pay equity analysis is advisable to ensure compliance with legal requirements and protect attorney-client privilege.
• Review job descriptions. Ensure that your company’s job requirements regarding education and experience are reasonable and aligned with actual job responsibilities. You can also evaluate the pay ranges to see if the level of duties matches and if pay increases have kept pace with changes in job roles.
• Examine pay scales. Analyze if your pay levels are consistent with experience, job titles, and length of service. Watch for instances where you pay new hires more than experienced colleagues or managers. Assess if any aspects of your compensation structure disproportionately affect protected classes of employees.
• Establish or update compensation policies. Develop clear and objective policies regarding pay structure, raises, and promotions. Establishing or updating compensation policies can involve analyzing existing ones, doing market research, defining pay structures, implementing equal measures, communicating policies, providing training and education, and monitoring and reviewing the effectiveness of your policies. This approach can boost fairness, transparency, and equity in your compensation practices while supporting employee satisfaction, retention, and business growth.
• Implement predictable scheduling. Unstable work schedules can pose challenges for employees, especially working mothers and those caring for dependants, as they struggle to arrange childcare or manage family commitments among constant changes. Fair scheduling can address the gender pay gap by allowing employees to request schedule adjustments and minimize irregular or unpredictable work hours.
• Refrain from asking about candidates’ pay history. During salary negotiations with potential candidates or new employees, employers often ask about their salary history from past positions. Relying on salary history can unfairly impact women, who are already prone to earning less than men and can enable the ongoing cycle of pay disparity, extending across different jobs and employers.
• Consider salary transparency. Encouraging an environment where employees feel comfortable discussing their compensation openly. Salary transparency can promote fairness and equity within your workplace, helping employees better understand how their pay aligns with their peers. Creating a culture that values open communication can empower your workforce to advocate for fair compensation and contribute to a more equitable workplace.

You might consider additional actions even if not legally mandated in your province or territory. The following proactive steps can help further reduce the pay gap and foster a more equitable workplace:

• Include salary ranges in job postings.
• Ensure equal opportunities for training and advancement for all employees, regardless of gender.
• Implement transparent and objective performance evaluations to ensure fair promotions and salary increases.