Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER March 7, 2016 2 NEWS Recent stories posted on www.hrreporter.com. Check the website daily for quick news hits from across Canada and around the world. WEB O N T H E ACROSS CANADA Association calls for overhaul at RCMP after latest sexual harassment allegations Says higher-ups turning blind eye to behaviour Number of EI recipients doubles in Alberta Saskatchewan sees 38 per cent increase Employers not obligated to accommodate personal choices – including breastfeeding Employee's denied request to telework full-time to breastfeed child Don't forget oil sector: Saskatchewan premier watches Ottawa on Bombardier Says 10s of 1000s of jobs lost in energy sector Canada, U.S., other G7 countries drag down OECD's forecast for economic growth Organization lowers estimates for Canadian growth over next 2 years Clamour for federal help for Bombardier grows amid layoffs Job cuts include 2,830 in Canada Ontario delays launch of new pension plan Reaches agreement with Ottawa to work on enhancing federal plan Edmonton man says he received homophobic Valentine at work Party City employee wants apologies AROUND THE WORLD Rescued bonded labourers in India to get more compensation Currently, compensation is often 'too little and comes too late': Labour advocate Oil's slump scattering workforce, supply chain: Kemp 100,000 jobs lost in U.S. alone Far-reaching French labour reform plan fuels political tensions Changes would make it easier for employers to shed workers Applications for U.S. jobless benefits fall to 3-month low Unemployment rate falls to 4.9 per cent EU businesses, workers brace for return of border controls Controls would mean 'massive limitations' for businesses, threaten jobs Icelandic workers to block Rio Tinto aluminium exports over wage dispute Dispute around cheaper contractors used at plant Civil servant fined after skipping work for years Must pay back 27,000 euros (C$41,741) Gender pay gap underappreciated Employee perceptions don't always match reality: Survey BY LIZ BERNIER WHILE research has been pretty clear in showing there is a measur- able pay gap between the genders, employee perceptions may be less clear. About seven in 10 workers in a global survey said they believe men and women are paid equally at their place of work (77 per cent in Canada), according to a Glass- door survey of 8,254 people. That may suggest a lack of awareness about the issues, said Scott Dobroski, associate direc- tor of corporate communications at company ratings site Glassdoor in San Francisco. "ere is a large disconnect due to lack of awareness and lack of in- formation when it comes to this notion of salary transparency and more information around pay," he said. While some of the research var- ies, it pretty consistently identifies a significant gender pay gap, said Dobroski. "Here in the U.S., for instance, (reports say it's about) 77 cents for a woman for every dollar a man earns, and then you have some reports that say it's closer — about 95 cents for a woman compared to every dollar for a man," he said. "Either way, though, all of these reports, no matter where you look online or who says what, they do show there is a gender pay gap. And this is in multiple countries around the world." The pay gap in Canada has been measured in various ways but the most common way is to look at full-time, full-year wages, according to Ontario's Pay Equity Commission. Women in Canada earn about 74 cents for every dol- lar a man earns, according to 2011 Statistics Canada data. What's interesting is employee perceptions do not match that re- ality, said Dob. "And that's a problem," he said. "e disconnect likely exists be- cause of lack of awareness and education around pay informa- tion and the benefits of sharing pay information and knowing that it's out there." Awareness, transparency For anything to change, people need to be aware that it's hap- pening — and not just be aware in a broad, hypothetical sense, according to Katie Donovan, founder of Equal Pay Negotia- tions in Boston. "When I do my workshops or speak with clients or talk about this at all, more often than not, I'm talking to a woman who loves her manager, loves her company, loves what she's doing, and that issue needs to be fixed — the 'poor other people' (syndrome)," she said. ere is still this idea that all these problems people read about are external and they won't hap- pen — and aren't happening — to them, she said. "ey say, 'ose poor other people, thank god that isn't hap- pening to me.' And then I ask the followup question — 'Well, how do you know that?'" Even if employees are paid fairly relative to their organization's pay structure, they may not be paid fairly relative to their sector or in- dustry, she said. "You may be paid absolutely ap- propriately at your company, but are you working at the company that pays the least out of all com- panies in the industry?" e disconnect is when man- agers are managing people, their goal is to help their team and make them successful — but not so when it comes to pay, said Donovan. "When they're negotiating your pay or deciding what your pay is, their absolute fiduciary responsi- bility to their employer is to get the best talent at the least amount of money." Reputational risk ere's also the impact a pay gap can have on recruiting and re- taining the best talent, found the Glassdoor survey. ree in five workers said they are not likely to apply for a job at a company where they believe a gender pay gap exists. In Canada, 69 per cent of re- spondents said they would not apply to an employer at a com- pany where a pay gap exists, said Dobroski. at breaks down to 79 per cent of women compared to 60 per cent of men. "What's really interesting as well is, especially in Canada, if you look at that younger demo- graphic, 18- to 24-year-olds in Canada — 91 per cent say they would not apply to a job where a pay gap exists. So that's going to be an increasing trend," he said. "at is a wakeup call for em- ployers that if they can look at their pay practices and let employ- ees and prospective talent know that they're committed to equal pay for equal work, they'll have a recruiting advantage." at's why transparency is key, said Dobroski. "When it comes to pay infor- mation being out there online — on sites like Glassdoor and social forums and people tweet- ing about it — the genie is out of the bottle now, and people have to understand that salary trans- parency and workplace transpar- ency is here, and there's really no turning back. In fact, if anything, it's only going to increase," he said. "Employers who do not em- brace this notion of being upfront about their pay and embracing salary transparency will be at a recruiting disadvantage." ere is absolutely the potential for reputational damage if em- ployers are not seen to pay fairly, said Mary Turan, senior consul- tant at Gallagher McDowall As- sociates in Toronto. "Employers today can't afford to not pay attention to this because women represent such a signifi- cant talent pool," she said. "Paying attention to and clos- ing the gender wage gap sends a message to all your stakeholders about valuing the work done by women." Not only will it pay off for an or- ganization by being able to attract and retain motivated staff but, ultimately, it will affect its com- petitiveness and performance, said Turan. "Not only will you be recruit- ing the best out there, which of course includes women, but, at the end of the day, we also need to remember that your employ- ees are also consumers — so it's a circle," she said. "We need to recognize that this is not a women's issue, it's not a men's issue… this is really a societal issue. So I think orga- nizations need to seize this as an opportunity." Now, transparency is not a one- size-fits-all model — there are dif- ferent levels for different employ- ers, said Dobroski. Some employers might want to be totally open about it; some may want to take another approach and take a good look at pay and "We need to recognize this is not a women's issue, it's not a men's issue... this is really a societal issue. So employers need to seize this as an opportunity." ADDRESS > pg. 5

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