Are you a non-unionized employee working at a workplace covered by laws in the federal jurisdiction such as banking, telecommunications, broadcasting, transportation to name a few. Non-unionized employees have important gender equality rights under the new Federal Pay Equity Act, which came into effect on August 31, 2021,
Cavalluzzo LLP lawyers have created a free, downloadable guide for non-unionized employees. This new guide uses plain language to provide you with an easy-to-understand overview of your rights and your employer’s obligations to create and maintain pay equity in the workplace.
What is pay equity?
Pay equity requires that employers pay men and women the same total compensation (including the total of wages, bonuses, benefits and other forms of compensation) if the work performed or the position is of equal value.
Pay equity laws are designed to rectify and prevent the persistent and systemic discrimination in wages and compensation practices experienced by women. Pay equity laws aim at ensuring gender equality.
In Canada, the gender pay gap is a serious problem of inequality. Based upon average annual earnings, by gender, for both full-time and part-time workers, women workers in Canada earned an average of 69 cents for every dollar earned by men in 2016.[1] The gendered pay equity gap is wider for women who face multiple barriers to equality, such as Indigenous women, racialized women, those who are 2SLGBTQI+, newcomer women, and women living with disabilities.
How does the federal Pay Equity Act apply to me?
The new Act applies to federally regulated businesses and industries, both in the public and private sector, with 10 or more employees. This includes, for example, banks, radio and television broadcasters, telecommunications companies, as well as transportation and shipping companies, railways, airlines, and airports.
If you are a non-unionized employee or a dependent contractor who works in the federal sector, you may want to learn more about the Act and how it applies to you. Click HERE to open and download our comprehensive guide.
[1] This calculation is based on "earnings" and not hourly wages from the 2016 census. The "earnings" measure captures all women’s and men’s earnings, including contract and part-time work – a crucial variable as about two-thirds of part-time workers are women.