The provincial government is expected to introduce a proposed pay transparency law that it says will 'shine a light on the gender pay gap.'JONATHAN HAYWARD/The Canadian Press
The gender pay gap in British Columbia is one of the worst in the country – women earn on average 17 per cent less than their male colleagues for similar work. Ahead of International Women’s Day on Wednesday, the provincial government is expected to introduce a proposed pay transparency law that it says will “shine a light on the gender pay gap.”
That promise of sunshine is not ambitious enough, according to a broad coalition of organizations and academics who are calling for a pay equity law to require employers to close the gap.
Humera Jabir, a staff lawyer at West Coast LEAF and one of the 125 signatories to an open letter to Premier David Eby, notes the NDP government was more ambitious in 2001, when it introduced an amendment to the Human Rights Code to enshrine the right of all British Columbians to receive equal pay for work of equal value.
At that time, the government concluded that “pay equity for women will not be achieved without legislation.”
The 2001 pay equity law was promptly quashed when the NDP lost the next election, but Ms. Jabir said the case made by the NDP at that time is still valid today.
“Certainly there is some value in pay transparency legislation, but it places the onus on the worker to advocate for themselves if you can see you are not being paid equally for similar work,” she said in an interview. “We know there is a wage gap. We really need mechanisms for accountability, to pro-actively move employers toward addressing those gaps.”
The coalition is calling for wage transparency – also known as a sunshine list – but also enforceable legislation that requires employers to work toward closing the compensation gap for people who are marginalized because they are Indigenous, Black, racialized, a migrant, have a disability or because of their gender.
The Globe and Mail has been publishing a series called the Power Gap, which looks at gender imbalances in the modern work force. The data revealed how women’s careers are stalling out in mid-level management and how, on average, women made less than comparable male colleagues.
By collecting sunshine lists from hundreds of employers across the country, the project produced an unprecedented look at where women stand within vital public institutions. Sunshine laws around the country have revealed inequities in hiring practices, promotion and compensation. But weak enforcement is slowing progress: Fighting a human-rights case is costly, risky and time-consuming. Employers face minor consequences for ignoring equity challenges.
In a discussion paper tabled last year, the B.C. government outlined its plans to tackle pay equity, acknowledging that the province is one of just a handful in Canada – alongside Alberta and Saskatchewan – without either pay transparency or pay equity legislation. Alberta is ranked 10th among the provinces, but all three provinces without pay equity laws rank lowest in Canada based on median hourly wages in all occupations. Newfoundland, which is also below the national average, has promised to enact legislation this year.
The B.C. government is developing legislation that “seeks to close the gender pay gap by empowering employers and their employees with factual information about their organization’s pay gap. The issues underpinning it pertaining to the workplace’s dynamics can then be addressed through the adoption or improvement of gender equity policies and practices.”
In a written statement, B.C.’s parliamentary secretary for gender equity, Kelli Paddon, said the government agrees with the coalition that more needs to be done.
“I appreciate the sincere commitment to this issue, and how important it is for people to be paid fairly. We agree that pay transparency is one step on the road to equal pay for equal work,” the statement said.
Ms. Paddon pointed to the government’s other efforts, including new investments in child-care supports and increases to the minimum wage, to help women in the work force.