Pay Equity is equal pay for work of equal value. Pay equity compares the value of jobs usually done by women (female jobs) to the value of jobs usually done by men (male jobs) based on four factors: skill, effort, responsibility and working conditions. A female job which is approximately equal in value to a male job must be paid at least the same job rate.

Historically, men and women tended to work in different jobs. However, female jobs have been both undervalued and underpaid. This wage gap between men and women has gone down, from 36% in 1987 (the year before the Act came into force) to 31% in 2001.

In summary, pay equity means:

In evaluating the job of secretary-receptionist, the listening skills, customer service expertise and patience required to deal with dissatisfied or impatient clients might be discounted, while in evaluating the job of collection agent, the equivalent abilities would be taken into consideration.

In a cashier's job, the physical effort required to continuously lift light weights might be undervalued, while lifting heavy weights in the job of a handler would be included, even if this task is performed only occasionally.

To achieve pay equity, employers must identify female jobs, which are mostly or traditionally done by women, such as librarian, childcare worker or secretary. Employers also identify male jobs, which are mostly or traditionally done by men, such as truck driver, firefighter, or shipper/receiver. Men sometimes work in female jobs that receive pay equity adjustments and women sometimes work in male jobs that do not receive adjustments. Pay equity only provides adjustments to underpaid female dominated jobs.

There are three criteria which determine the gender of a job class. A job class is considered female or male according to the percentage of employees in that job class. Usually, if 60% of the employees are female, it's a female job class; if 70% are male, it's a male job class; if there are about the same number of female and males, it's gender neutral. However, employers must also consider the gender of the employees who have done the work in the past and the gender which is usually or stereotypically associated with that kind of work. For example, the job of secretary or nurse would immediately be thought of as female and a truck driver or plumber is usually thought of as male.

Employers then determine the value of jobs, based on the levels of skill, effort, responsibility and working conditions involved in doing the work, and the job rate, which is defined in the Act as the highest rate of compensation for a job class. Compensation includes all payments and benefits paid to an employee.

For an example of a comparison of female and male jobs, see Chart # 1 below. The job class of Secretary is comparable in value to that of a Shipper/Receiver but receives a lower rate of pay. To achieve pay equity, the secretary's job rate should be adjusted by $1.25 so that this job rate is at least the same as the shipper/receiver's job rate.

The Commission often receives calls about workplace situations that are not pay equity. For example:

• Pay Equity: An Overview for Employees
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• Commonly Overlooked Features of Work
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• Guideline # 1 - Introduction to Pay Equity
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• Pay Equity and Equal Pay: What's the Difference?
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• Case Study - The "Space Toy Co." - Introduction to Pay Equity
  
  
• Index of publications on this website