Employment equity (Canada)
Encyclopedia
Employment equity, as defined in Canadian law by the Employment Equity Act, requires employers to engage in proactive employment practices to increase the representation of four designated groups: women, people with disabilities, Aboriginal peoples, and visible minorities. The Act states that "employment equity means more than treating persons the same way but also requires special measures and the accommodation of differences."
The Act requires that employers remove barriers to employment that disadvantage members of the four designated groups. Examples of employment barriers are wheelchair inaccessible buildings, that create a physical barrier to people with disabilities, or practices that make some people feel uncomfortable, such as holding management meetings in strip clubs. The term reasonable accommodation
is often used for the removal of such barriers to employment. Employers are also required to institute positive policies and practices for the hiring, training, retention and promotion of members of the designated groups. Positive policies include good hiring practices, for example, asking all job candidates the same interview questions, or advertising a job widely and in places where it is likely to reach female or minority applicants.
. She considered the US term, affirmative action
, but decided not to use that term because of the emotions and ill will surrounding affirmative action. In its place she created the term “employment equity” for the Canadian context. Judge Abella’s report later became the foundation of the Employment Equity Act of 1986, later amended as the Employment Equity Act of 1995. The purpose of the Act, as stated in the legislation itself, is:
1) Women
2) People with disabilities
3) Aboriginal people, a category consisting of Status Indians, Non-status Indians, Métis
(people of mixed French-Aboriginal ancestry in western Canada), and Inuit
(the Aboriginal people of the Arctic).
4) Visible minorities
The Canadian federal government also administers the Federal Contractors’ Program
(FCP). This is not part of the Employment Equity Act, but rather is a non-legislated program that extends employment equity to organizations beyond the scope of the Act. The FCP states that suppliers of goods and services to the federal government (with some specified exceptions) must have an employment equity program in place.
Some provinces use the term employment equity in conjunction with their enforcement of provincial-level human rights legislation (for example, British Columbia), but no province has a law that is an analogue to the federal Employment Equity Act. The government of Quebec requires that employers show preference to people with disabilities, which could be considered a form of employment equity legislation.
oversees the administration of employment equity in the federal government itself. The Canadian Human Rights Commission
deals with both private and public sector employers that are federally regulated, and is responsible for conducting audits of employers' compliance.
In addition to the above, Human Resources and Social Development Canada is responsible for oversight of the Federal Contractors' Program.
In July 2010, controversy arose when a Caucasian woman, Sara Landriault, was barred from applying for employment in a federal agency because she was not in a racial minority. This incident led Stockwell Day
, president of the Treasury Board
of Canada, which oversees federal government employment policies, to announce a review of 'affirmative action' (employment equity) and how it is applied in federal hiring procedures.
As of October 2010, there has been no sign of Affirmative Action reviewed and Sara Landriault was never allowed to re-apply for the position in Immigration Canada.
has long prohibited discrimination on the basis of gender, race, ethnicity, and certain other grounds. The Canadian Human Rights Act continues to be in force alongside the Employment Equity Act. The key distinction between the two laws is that the Canadian Human Rights Act merely prohibits discrimination, whereas the Employment Equity Act requires employers to engage in proactive measures to improve the employment opportunities of the four specific groups listed above. Note that the Canadian Human Rights Act protects a wider range of minorities (such as sexual minorities and religious minorities), while the Employment Equity Act limits its coverage to the aforementioned four protected groups. In Canada, employment equity is a specific legal concept, and should not be used as a synonym for non-discrimination or workplace diversity.
Employment equity should not be confused with pay equity, which is an entirely distinct concept. Pay equity, as a Canadian legal term, refers to the legal requirement that predominantly female occupations be paid the same as predominantly male occupations of equal importance within a given organization.
One way of understanding the distinction between employment equity and pay equity (comparable worth) is to note that they take different approaches to dealing with the problem of predominantly female occupations being underpaid. Employment equity aims to increase the number of women in well-paid occupations. In contrast, pay equity implicitly recognizes how difficult it is to break down gender barriers in the workforce, and instead aims to increase the pay of predominantly female occupations. Employment equity also addresses the situation of Aboriginal people, visible minorities, and people with disabilities, whereas pay equity addresses solely the dilemma that predominantly female occupations tend to be underpaid.
The Act requires that employers remove barriers to employment that disadvantage members of the four designated groups. Examples of employment barriers are wheelchair inaccessible buildings, that create a physical barrier to people with disabilities, or practices that make some people feel uncomfortable, such as holding management meetings in strip clubs. The term reasonable accommodation
Reasonable accommodation
A reasonable accommodation is an adjustment made in a system to "accommodate" or make fair the same system for an individual based on a proven need. Accommodations can be religious, academic, or employment related and are often mandated by law. Each country has its own system of reasonable...
is often used for the removal of such barriers to employment. Employers are also required to institute positive policies and practices for the hiring, training, retention and promotion of members of the designated groups. Positive policies include good hiring practices, for example, asking all job candidates the same interview questions, or advertising a job widely and in places where it is likely to reach female or minority applicants.
History
The roots of employment equity are in the 1984 Abella Commission, chaired by Judge Rosalie AbellaRosalie Abella
Rosalie Silberman Abella, is a Canadian jurist. She was appointed in 2004 to the Supreme Court of Canada, becoming the first Jewish woman to sit on the Canadian Supreme Court bench.- Early life :...
. She considered the US term, affirmative action
Affirmative action
Affirmative action refers to policies that take factors including "race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation or national origin" into consideration in order to benefit an underrepresented group, usually as a means to counter the effects of a history of discrimination.-Origins:The term...
, but decided not to use that term because of the emotions and ill will surrounding affirmative action. In its place she created the term “employment equity” for the Canadian context. Judge Abella’s report later became the foundation of the Employment Equity Act of 1986, later amended as the Employment Equity Act of 1995. The purpose of the Act, as stated in the legislation itself, is:
Designated groups
The Employment Equity Act designates four groups as the beneficiaries of employment equity:1) Women
2) People with disabilities
3) Aboriginal people, a category consisting of Status Indians, Non-status Indians, Métis
Métis people (Canada)
The Métis are one of the Aboriginal peoples in Canada who trace their descent to mixed First Nations parentage. The term was historically a catch-all describing the offspring of any such union, but within generations the culture syncretised into what is today a distinct aboriginal group, with...
(people of mixed French-Aboriginal ancestry in western Canada), and Inuit
Inuit
The Inuit are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Canada , Denmark , Russia and the United States . Inuit means “the people” in the Inuktitut language...
(the Aboriginal people of the Arctic).
4) Visible minorities
Visible minority
A visible minority is a person who is visibly not one of the majority race in a given population.The term is used as a demographic category by Statistics Canada in connection with that country's Employment Equity policies. The qualifier "visible" is important in the Canadian context where...
Coverage
The Employment Equity Act is federal legislation, and as such, applies only to certain industries that are federally regulated under the Canadian constitution, namely banks, broadcasters, telecommunication companies, railroads, airlines, maritime transportation companies, other transportation companies if inter-provincial in nature, uranium-related organizations, federal crown corporations (companies where the federal government owns the majority of shares), and corporations controlled by two or more provincial governments. A 2001 review estimated that 10% of the Canadian workforce was covered by federal employment equity legislation. Thus the scope of the Employment Equity Act is quite limited, and the vast majority of employers, including nearly all retailers and manufacturing companies, fall outside its jurisdiction.The Canadian federal government also administers the Federal Contractors’ Program
Federal Contractors’ Program
In Canada, the Federal Contractors' Program is administered by Human Resources and Skills Development Canada , an agency of the Canadian federal government. The FCP requires provincially-regulated employers with 100 or more employees bidding on federal contracts of $200,000 or more to certify...
(FCP). This is not part of the Employment Equity Act, but rather is a non-legislated program that extends employment equity to organizations beyond the scope of the Act. The FCP states that suppliers of goods and services to the federal government (with some specified exceptions) must have an employment equity program in place.
Some provinces use the term employment equity in conjunction with their enforcement of provincial-level human rights legislation (for example, British Columbia), but no province has a law that is an analogue to the federal Employment Equity Act. The government of Quebec requires that employers show preference to people with disabilities, which could be considered a form of employment equity legislation.
Regulatory oversight
Oversight of employment equity is shared among three federal government agencies. For private sector employers that are federally regulated, Human Resources and Social Development Canada collects data from employers and conducts research related to the Employment Equity Act. The Treasury Board SecretariatTreasury Board Secretariat
The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat is the administrative branch of the Treasury Board of Canada. The role of the secretariat is to support the Treasury Board as a committee of ministers, and to fulfill the statutory responsibilities of a central government agency...
oversees the administration of employment equity in the federal government itself. The Canadian Human Rights Commission
Canadian Human Rights Commission
The Canadian Human Rights Commission is a quasi-judicial body that was established in 1977 by the government of Canada. It is empowered under the Canadian Human Rights Act to investigate and try to settle complaints of discrimination in employment and in the provision of services within federal...
deals with both private and public sector employers that are federally regulated, and is responsible for conducting audits of employers' compliance.
In addition to the above, Human Resources and Social Development Canada is responsible for oversight of the Federal Contractors' Program.
Controversy
Employment equity is surrounded with controversy, as has occurred with similar programs in the US and other countries. Opponents of employment equity argue that it violates common-sense notions of fairness and equality. University of Saskatchewan economists Cristina Echavarria and Mobinul Huq argue that employment equity should be redesigned so that employers are required to remove barriers to men applying for female-dominated jobs, as well as barriers to women applying for male-dominated jobs. On the other hand, proponents argue that employment equity is necessary to amend historic wrongs and to ameliorate the economic differences among groups. A particular point of contention has been the category visible minorities, which lumps together numerous ethnic groups, some of which are affluent and some of which are severely disadvantaged.In July 2010, controversy arose when a Caucasian woman, Sara Landriault, was barred from applying for employment in a federal agency because she was not in a racial minority. This incident led Stockwell Day
Stockwell Day
Stockwell Burt Day, Jr., PC, MP is a former Canadian politician, and a member of the Conservative Party of Canada. He is a former cabinet minister in Alberta, and a former leader of the Canadian Alliance. Day was MP for the riding of Okanagan—Coquihalla in British Columbia and the president of...
, president of the Treasury Board
Treasury Board
The Treasury Board is the Government of Canada's only statutory Cabinet committee and is responsible for the federal civil service much of the operation of the Canadian government. Among its specific duties are negotiating labour agreements with the public service unions and serving as Comptroller...
of Canada, which oversees federal government employment policies, to announce a review of 'affirmative action' (employment equity) and how it is applied in federal hiring procedures.
As of October 2010, there has been no sign of Affirmative Action reviewed and Sara Landriault was never allowed to re-apply for the position in Immigration Canada.
Distinct from other human rights concepts
The Canadian Human Rights ActCanadian Human Rights Act
The Canadian Human Rights Act is a statute originally passed by the Parliament of Canada in 1977 with the express goal of extending the law to ensure equal opportunity to individuals who may be victims of discriminatory practices based on a set prohibited grounds such as gender, disability, or...
has long prohibited discrimination on the basis of gender, race, ethnicity, and certain other grounds. The Canadian Human Rights Act continues to be in force alongside the Employment Equity Act. The key distinction between the two laws is that the Canadian Human Rights Act merely prohibits discrimination, whereas the Employment Equity Act requires employers to engage in proactive measures to improve the employment opportunities of the four specific groups listed above. Note that the Canadian Human Rights Act protects a wider range of minorities (such as sexual minorities and religious minorities), while the Employment Equity Act limits its coverage to the aforementioned four protected groups. In Canada, employment equity is a specific legal concept, and should not be used as a synonym for non-discrimination or workplace diversity.
Employment equity should not be confused with pay equity, which is an entirely distinct concept. Pay equity, as a Canadian legal term, refers to the legal requirement that predominantly female occupations be paid the same as predominantly male occupations of equal importance within a given organization.
One way of understanding the distinction between employment equity and pay equity (comparable worth) is to note that they take different approaches to dealing with the problem of predominantly female occupations being underpaid. Employment equity aims to increase the number of women in well-paid occupations. In contrast, pay equity implicitly recognizes how difficult it is to break down gender barriers in the workforce, and instead aims to increase the pay of predominantly female occupations. Employment equity also addresses the situation of Aboriginal people, visible minorities, and people with disabilities, whereas pay equity addresses solely the dilemma that predominantly female occupations tend to be underpaid.
See also
- Canadian Human Rights ActCanadian Human Rights ActThe Canadian Human Rights Act is a statute originally passed by the Parliament of Canada in 1977 with the express goal of extending the law to ensure equal opportunity to individuals who may be victims of discriminatory practices based on a set prohibited grounds such as gender, disability, or...
- Canadian Human Rights CommissionCanadian Human Rights CommissionThe Canadian Human Rights Commission is a quasi-judicial body that was established in 1977 by the government of Canada. It is empowered under the Canadian Human Rights Act to investigate and try to settle complaints of discrimination in employment and in the provision of services within federal...
- Federal Contractors’ ProgramFederal Contractors’ ProgramIn Canada, the Federal Contractors' Program is administered by Human Resources and Skills Development Canada , an agency of the Canadian federal government. The FCP requires provincially-regulated employers with 100 or more employees bidding on federal contracts of $200,000 or more to certify...
- Human Resources and Social Development Canada
- Treasury Board SecretariatTreasury Board SecretariatThe Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat is the administrative branch of the Treasury Board of Canada. The role of the secretariat is to support the Treasury Board as a committee of ministers, and to fulfill the statutory responsibilities of a central government agency...