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An Overview and Assessment of Comparable Worth Based on a Large Scale Implementation

In many ways, the historical aspects of Canadian public policy concerning gender-based wage discrimination have undergone a development similar to that of the United States. Although the concept of comparable worth is a relatively new phenomenon, it has been the end result of a steady progression of pay policies dating more than forty years. The first equal pay laws began in the Canadian province of Ontario in 1951 (Ontario Female Employees Fair Remuneration Act, 1951). Throughout the 1950s, other provinces passed similar legislation. These laws, in practice, proved to be quite restrictive because they required that work be identical before a comparison could be affected. Viewing this as a significant weakness in the laws, subsequent legislation broadened the definition to allow comparisons of substantially similar work which possessed slight differences in the nature or tasks of the job. This definition was broadened again to allow for comparisons of jobs that were held similar in the composite of skills, effort, responsibility, and working conditions. Thus the requirement that jobs be substantially similar in each area was diluted to allow comparisons as long as the overall composite of all areas was similar. This composite approach was eventually adopted in all provinces that passed conventional equal pay legislation.(1) On the federal level, gender-based wage discrimination was addressed in the Canadian Human Rights Act passed in the mid-1970s. Under the "Equal Wages" title of the legislation, wage differentials between male and female employees performing "work of equal value" was deemed illegal discrimination. The Canadian Human Rights Commission was empowered to enforce the Act.(2) Yet, province-based conventional equal pay laws remained problematic in their enforcement for several reasons. The composite approach, while providing a broader interpretation, still restricted comparisons to jobs within the same occupation. Comparisons of jobs in dissimilar occupations found to be of equal value on the composite of skill, effort, responsibility, and working conditions were not expressly permitted.(3) All of the early provincial legislation also required a matter of controversy to be brought in the form of a complaint. This effectively allowed the enforcement phase of the legislation to remain moot as long as no complaint or prima facie evidence of discrimination was advanced. At the federal level, the relative lack of progress was attributed to the prevailing narrow interpretation of the legislation and the insufficient extent of enforcement action. The specific intent burden of proof requirement, as well as the lack of class action suits, made enforcement at this level especially difficult.(4) Male-Female Earnings Gap Despite the federal legislation, surveys conducted in the 1980s revealed a consistent gender-based wage gap seven years after passage of the Canadian Human Rights Act. Female average earnings by occupation were found to be 59.4 percent of male average earnings with a range of 46 percent to 68 percent across all occupations sampled.(5) Comparisons conducted on occupations within the same company reflected wage disparities of 10 percent to 20 percent.(6) For full-year, full-time employees the ratio was found to have increased from 58.4 percent to 65.8 percent in the period from 1967 to 1989. Controlling for the male average work week of 40.9 hours and the female average work week of 35.6 hours, it is possible the true final ratio may actually be in the 75 to 80 percent range.(7) Unfortunately, no empirical studies have been undertaken to study the wage gap while controlling for possible intervening variables in the composition of the Canadian workforce, such as age and experience.(8) Shapiro and Stelcner(9) posit that the decline in the earnings gap can be attributed not only to fewer instances of discrimination but also to women's improved potential for productivity. …