Section 4(1) & 4(2) of the The Public Sector Equitable Compensation Act (S.C. 2009, c. 2, s. 394)
Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): The Good Men Project
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2018/07/14
Equitable Compensation Assessment
The following provision is not in force.
Marginal note: Equitable compensation assessment
- 4 (1) An equitable compensation assessment under this Act assesses, without gender bias, the value of work performed by employees in a job group or a job class and identifies, by taking into account the prescribed factors, whether an equitable compensation matter exists.
- Marginal note: Determining value(2) The criteria to be applied in assessing the value of the work performed by employees in a job group or a job class are
- (a) the composite of the skill, effort and responsibility required in the performance of the work and the conditions under which the work is performed; and
- (b) the employer’s recruitment and retention needs in respect of employees in that job group or job class, taking into account the qualifications required to perform the work and the market forces operating in respect of employees with those qualifications.
The Public Sector Equitable Compensation Act (S.C. 2009, c. 2, s. 394)The ways of equality are numerous and in need of extensive consideration for the ability of the men and the women in the society to be living on an equal playing field, but the whereabouts of the magical equality desired by many – and not others, as you might have noticed – comes in the formulation of a set of consideration crystallized into documents best suited for the times and the foreseeable future and then implemented into the legal frameworks.
Those crystallizations then become the basis for the hard work of maintaining a set of ideals meant for the equality of the sexes in the social and professional arena, in the area of work. Men and women require an equivalent playing field. For a long time, most Canadians did not have the right to equality in the country, as only about one century ago Canadians across the board earned the right to vote.
The last groups to garner the right to vote within the country were the Aboriginals in 1960. Many are still alive who saw the time when the country only gave them the most basic considerations as human beings in a democratic system to be considered human beings. But also, the world of work became another important domain for not only Aboriginal women but women as a general grouping.
Where the women in the society could not see the ways in which they could have any consideration for equal pay, demand knowledge of possible discrepancies, and also the means by which to formally submit a complaint, a complaint that could then be investigated and pursued proper recourse if it is so needed. But The Public Sector Equitable Compensation Act (S.C. 2009, c. 2, s. 394), or the Act, gave a basis for consideration of the means of discrimination.Important, and duly, note, the fourth section, “Equitable Compensation Assessment,” of the Act is not in force. The portion of the Act devoted to gender non-bias for work comes in the value of the work. Within a defined job grouping or class, the performance of one individual should be able, theoretically, to be measured and compared, or simply contrasted, with other individuals in the job grouping or job class.
No specification of job grouping or class is given in this section of the document. That is, this amounts to a statement of principle rather than particulars about the performance on the job. If a woman is performing in some ways well, and if another man is performing in the same work, same qualifications, and producing equally valued work, then the man and the woman should be paid the same.
Some universities and other areas of work are beginning to provide raises too many women within their ranks because of discovered gender pay gaps on legitimate bases. Sometimes, the woman may work less, but other times the woman has the same qualifications, the same workload, and same performance while getting paid less than her male colleagues. This becomes a legitimate basis for complaints and then working to garner the equal pay for the job.
In section 4(2), we have subsection (a) and (b). In the opening statement, we can see the specification of the official and agreed upon criteria to be applied for the value of the work and the pay. As stated alongside the other parts:
(2) The criteria to be applied in assessing the value of the work performed by employees in a job group or a job class are
- (a) the composite of the skill, effort and responsibility required in the performance of the work and the conditions under which the work is performed; and
- (b) the employer’s recruitment and retention needs in respect of employees in that job group or job class, taking into account the qualifications required to perform the work and the market forces operating in respect of employees with those qualifications.
One statement exists around the assessment of the value of the work, as a “marginal note.” (Not central but important to bear in mind.) With skill, effort, and responsibility needed for the performance on the job, this can give an idea of what is needed for the equal status of the sexes on the job. In the case of the first value in “skill,” this can take a significant amount of time to build into the professional repertoire of an individual on the job.
In addition, a skill in the modern economy more and more does not necessarily mean and limit to the physical. A skill may not mean lumberjack skills or carpentry. It may more often than not mean knowledge plus proper application is given the need in the modern economy – sometimes called the Knowledge Economy or the Fourth Industrial Revolution – of more education and high-level technical skills and analysis, e.g., coding, programming, data analysis, interpretation of complex statistical data, and so on.
The document can stay the same but the frame of around it can change, which can necessitate a new viewing of the document itself. Therein lies a certain aspect of the need for the improved generality of content, where the general definitions remain well-accepted over the long haul, it is a sort of general particularism. We have the level of effort exerted in the midst of the work as well.
In the context of the work, the need for the deep effort is important because, as anyone with any job has noticed, not everyone tries at the same rate or exertion. In fact, they can change day-to-day. Same applies to ourselves, haven’t you noticed (speaking to your decaf self). The effort and the skill should be sufficiently equivalent to produce the same output and so the same pay for that particular job.
Then we come to the third and final part of it; in the form of “responsibility,” there is the assertion or implied case comparisons of janitors with managers of janitorial services, of Starbucks team members with the regional manager of operations, of the basketball player with the one who signs their cheques. It becomes a certain respect for the levels of difference between the high performing and the not-so-high performing.
Indeed, we can see this in those who are the presidents of universities. I have interviewed a number of them. We can the lesser responsibility of those who are more in the dark of the minutiae and the possible consequences of failure within the university such as vice presidents or the professors in this or that department. Responsibility turns out to be an important part of the criteria for consideration in the Equitable Compensation Assessment section of the Act.
Sub-section (b) points to the importance of the bringing in and keeping of the employees with respect to their job group or job class while keeping in mind the qualifications needed to perform the work, as well as the forces within the marketplace regarding, said employees with the relevant qualifications. It is a bit a long statement on the equality in pay.
However, it can be parsed. Looking at the statements, the employer has the ethical responsibility in two respects. One in the recruitment of the employees for the job class or the job grouping needed for performing in that job, given the market forces as well. Then they have the additional moral obligation – you could say – to retain those people. Something of particular note for the women in the society.
Because the basis for their equality within the society will need to be maintained in a number of areas, especially with the historical record of women’s oppression as stark, clear, and needing repetition. The work to hire and retain qualified employees in the light of the qualifications and the market forces seems important based on the unenforced idea of women deserving equal treatment within the society, and so the employers need to do this from their own end, especially if the individual woman or women applying for the job have equivalent qualifications as the men.
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