I’m paid less than my male co-workers; what can I do?

This article was originally published by The Hamilton Spectator.

Q: How does pay equity work, and what can I do to address being paid less than my male co-workers?

A: Pay equity is the idea that all workers should be paid fairly and equitably, regardless of their gender or other personal characteristics. Pay disparities can contribute to larger economic and social inequalities.

According to Statistics Canada, in 2019, women in Canada earned 87 cents for every dollar earned by men, on average. This pay gap is even larger for Indigenous women and women with disabilities. In Ontario, there are three areas of law that govern pay equity:

• Ontario Human Rights Code (“Code”)
• Employment Standards Act
• Pay Equity Act (Ontario)

To address pay inequity under the Code, the pay difference must be shown to be, at least in part, because of your sex.

The second option is to make a complaint to the Ministry of Labour. For this process you don’t need to show discrimination, just a difference between your pay and the pay of your male co-workers in similar roles.

The third option is more of a broad systemic approach that won’t bring individual remedies but may help to even the playing field. The Pay Equity Act has a Commission that could order an employer to rectify unequal pay programs. It’s important to note that an employer can never reduce the pay of a male counterpart to achieve equal pay.

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