The province introduced new pay transparency legislation Tuesday to help close a gender pay gap that is the worst in the country.
But critics say only requiring employers to publicly post the gap doesn’t go far enough to accomplish what was proposed more than two decades ago.
On average, women in B.C. earn 17 per cent less than their male colleagues for similar work.
Once legislation is passed, employers in the province will be required to publicly post reports on their gender pay gaps.
The so-called “sunshine list” requirement is being phased in starting Nov. 1 by employer size.
The B.C. Public Service Agency and Crown corporations with more than 1,000 employees — including ICBC, B.C. Hydro, WorkSafeBC, B.C. Housing, B.C. Lottery Corporation and B.C. Transit — will be the first to be required to post the pay gap.
On Nov. 1, 2024, all employers with 1,000 employees or more will be required to post, followed by all employers with 300 employees or more on Nov. 1, 2025 and all employers with 50 or more staff Nov. 1, 2026.
A coalition of 128 organizations and academics who signed an open letter to Premier David Eby say that’s not enough. They want employers to be required to both identify and close gaps in pay for work of equal value.
“Instead, your government has committed only to introducing pay transparency legislation,” says the letter, signed by organizations including West Coast Legal Education and Action Fund.
“While we appreciate that pay transparency plays a role in promoting equity, your legislation will take no direct action to protect and advance the right to equitable pay. Instead, it will continue to tacitly place the burden on women and other equity-deserving groups to contend with their employers for basic fairness.”
Andrew Longhurst, a Simon Fraser health policy researcher and political economist who signed the letter, said the proposed legislation is a great first step in terms of transparency “but the pay equity legislation would actually address the problem.”
Viveca Ellis, executive director of the Single Mothers’ Alliance, also signed the letter, which cites the NDP’s amendment to the Human Rights Code in 2001 to enshrine the right of all British Columbians to receive equal pay for work of equal value. Then Women’s Equality Minister Evelyn Gillespie said pay equity would not be achieved without legislation and noted Quebec had already introduced pay equity legislation for both public and private sectors.
The B.C. Liberals repealed the legislation in 2001 within months of assuming office.
Ellis said the legislation proposed this week doesn’t have the teeth to accomplish what’s needed.
“It’s shameful and ridiculous that we are still fighting for pay equity legislation that guarantees equal pay for work of equal value for men and women and gender-diverse women — this is long overdue,” said Ellis.
According to Statistics Canada, in B.C. in 2022, men earned an average hourly wage of $35.50, while women earned an average of $29.53 an hour.
For Indigenous, racialized and newcomer women, the gap is even higher. Indigenous women working full time earned an average of $26.74 per hour, visible minority women earned an average of $27.44 per hour, and immigrant women earned an average of $28.78 per hour.
Kelli Paddon, B.C. parliamentary secretary for gender equity, said the province has been working on closing the pay gap since 2017, with investments in child care and training, and increases to the minimum wage.
Paddon said that prior to the legislation’s introduction, there was significant consultation with employers, community advocates, First Nations, business associations, organized labour, employee associations, employment and legal advocates, municipalities, and the non-profit and public sectors.
Some employers were concerned about “going too fast” at a difficult time for businesses, Paddon said, adding that it’s important that “employers are on board” so they are part of building a made-in-B.C. pay-equity system where “pay disparity based on gender is no longer acceptable anywhere.”
Under the proposed legislation, all employers in the province will be required to include wage or salary ranges on all publicly advertised jobs.
As well, once the legislation is in force, B.C. employers will not be able to ask prospective employees for pay history information or punish employees who share how much they earn with co-workers or possible new hires.
“Discriminating based on gender is not legal in British Columbia,” said Paddon. “Highlighting information that would potentially demonstrate that or demonstrate areas of opportunity to improve is critical.”
Labour Minister Harry Bains said employers being transparent about the wages they pay brings the province “one step closer to reducing the gender pay gap.”
Each year by June 1, the Finance Ministry will publish a report that will serve as centralized reporting of gender pay in B.C.
The province said regulations are also being developed for the fall that will provide employers with more details about how they will be required to report on the pay gap.
Pay discrimination is prohibited in B.C. under the Human Rights Code.
B.C. Human Rights Commissioner Kasari Govender said Tuesday the cost of wage discrimination over the course of someone’s career can be staggering and has significant impacts on countless women, families and seniors.
She expressed concern that the legislation — with no penalties for non-compliance or centralized database to make sector or system-level change — “will be seen as a solution to the gender pay gap, when in reality B.C. is still decades behind other provinces.”
The legislation brings B.C. “inches” forward where it needs “strides,” she said.
