Private-Sector Experience with Pay Equity in Ontario

Judith A. McDonald and Robert J. Thornton

Canadian Public Policy, 1998, vol. 24, issue 2, pages 185-208

Abstract: Since 1988 Ontario has had the most comprehensive comparable-worth or "pay-equity" policy in North America, if not the world. Ontario's Pay Equity Act is proactive rather than merely complaints-based and covers nearly all employers in the private as well as public sectors. In this paper we analyze the Ontario pay-equity policy and its experience to date. After reviewing the findings of several surveys sponsored by the Ontario Pay Equity Commission, we present the results of our own detailed survey of 27 Toronto firms in which we concentrated on their experiences implementing pay equity. Overall, we find that both the magnitude and the scope of pay-equity adjustments to date have been rather modest. However, most firms reported that pay equity was a significant administrative burden and generated major difficulties and complaints with the process of job evaluation. In addition, we discovered evidence of a fair amount of noncompliance with and manipulation of the requirements of the act.

Date: 1998
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