Chapter 12
standard Hours of Work and Overtime Pay
Standard hours of work vary between 40 hours per week and 48 hours per week across jurisdictions, and overtime pay is one-and-one-half times regular pay in almost all cases. Meal breaks and rest periods also are required during working hours, but do not have to be paid. Today, overtime pay is often the least costly option. Contemporary employers face (1) an increasingly skilled workforce with higher training per employee and (2) higher benefit costs, ofi:en a fixed cost per employee. T
GOVERNMENT AS PART OF THE EMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIP
Supply of Labour: Legislation aimed at protecting specific groups also tends to restrict that group's participation in the labour market. Demand for Labour: Government affects demand for labour most directly as a major employer. A government also directly affects labour demand through its purchases (military aircraft, computer systems, paper clips) as well as its public policy decisions.
Pay on Termination of Employment
The employer must provide a minimum notice of termination during which time the employee continues to be paid or else receives the same payment in lieu of notice. This notice period varies from one week to eight weeks, depending on the employee's length of service. Two jurisdictions (Ontario and federal) require additional severance pay to be provided, in certain circumstances, to an individual employee who is terminated.
Vacations and Holidays
The following holidays will be observed: New Year's Day—First day of January lanada Day—First day of July Labour Day—First Monday in September Thanksgiving Day—Second Monday in October Christmas Day—Twenty-fifth day of December Work on Holidays Employees required to work on a holiday will be compensated at their discretion either at the rate of one and one-half (1-1/2) times their regular rate of pay or granted compensatory time at the rate of one and one-half (1 -112) times, plus straight time pay for the holiday. The
gender wage gap
^he amount by which the average pay for female workers is less than the average pay for male workers A variety of factors contribute to the wage gap. Some of the more important factors include the following: \ 1. Differences in occupations, qualifications, and experience 2.Differences in industries and firms 3. Differences in union membership 4. The presence of discrimination Currently, more women than men graduate from Canadian universities. The choice or major is the single strongest factor affecting income of university graduates.' Aen are more likely to enroll, graduate, and continue working in engineering and scientific specialties. A study of women in science and engineering professions found that women scientists and engineers are almost twice as likely as males to leave these occupation By the time men and women have been out of school for 6 years, women on average have worked 30 percent less than men.
THE IMPACT OF UNIONS ON WAGE ETERMINATION
The general factors affecting wages in unionized firms include the impact of the union on: (1) general wage levels, (2) the structure of wages, (3) non-union firms (also known as spillover), and (4) wage and salary policies and practices in unionized firms.
Differences in compensation between female- and male-dominated job classes are allowed, however, if the employer can demonstrate that the differences are the results of any of the following:
(1) a fair and formal seniority system, (2) a temporary employee training or development assignment that is equally assessable by both male and female employees, (3) a fair merit compensation plan based on formal performance ratings, (4) red-circling, that is, maintenance of the compensation level of an employee whose job has been downgraded, and (5) a skills shortage.
HUMAN RIGHTS LAWS
. The Charter specifically permits the development of programs to relieve the situation of historically disadvantaged groups. Human rights legislation has been enacted in every jurisdiction in Canada, and guarantees every person equal treatment in regard to employment and opportunity for employment regard¬ less of race, colour, creed/religion, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, age, or mental or physi cal disability Employment applications and interviews are in violation of the law if they ask for any information in these areas. Hiring, firing, training, and promotion decisions based on these grounds are prohibited
Presence of Discrimination
46 percent of women said they had experienced discrimination; only 9 percent of men said they had. The most common problem women reported was that less qualified men were chosen for promotions over them. Additionally, they felt that at higher levels discrimination was subtler and harder to prove.
Role of Unions in Wage and Salary Policies and Practices
Basis of Pay: The vast majority of contracts specify that one or more jobs are to be compensated on an hourly basis and that overtime pay will be paid beyond a certain number of hours. Occupation/Wage Differentials Most contracts recognize that different occupations should receive different wage rates. Within occupations, though, a single wage rate prevails Experience/Merit Differential: Single rates are usually specified for workers within a particular job classification. Sii Workers with varying years of experience and output receive the same single rate. Alternatively, agreements may specify wage ranges. The vast majority of contracts, as in the example above, specify seniority as the basis for movement through the range. Ai A second strategy for moving employees through wage ranges is based exclusively on merit. The third method for movement through a range combines automatic and merit ptogression in some manner. A frequent strategy is to grant automatic increases up to the midpoint or the range and to permit subsequent increases only when merited on the basis of performance ppraisal.
PAY EQUITY
Canadian women working full-time earned slightly over 70 percent of the amount that full-time male workers earned in the last decade.^ This 30 percent difference is called the gender wage gap.
Pay Equity Legislation
legislation intended to redress the unexplained portion of the gender wage gap by requiring employers to proactively pursue equal pay for work of equal of value between female-dominated and male-dominated jobs
proportional value/wage line method
method of comparing pay for male- and female-dominated job classes when female job classes have no appropriate male comparators under the job-to-job system, in which the wage line for male job classes is applied when setting pay for female job classes
proxy comparison method
method of comparing pay for male- and female-dominated job classes when pay equity cannot be achieved through job-to-job or proportional value methods, in which female job classes are compared to similar female job classes that have achieved pay equity with another employer
job-to-job method
method of comparing pay for male- and female-dominated job classes, in which each female job class is compared to a male job class of equal or comparable value
Union Impact: The Spillover Effect
spillover effect employers' seeking to avoid unionization offer workers the wages, benefits, and working conditions won in rival unionized firms
Union Impact on General Wage Levels
summary analysis of 114 different studies.^^ Two important points emerged: 1. Unions do make a difference in wages. Union workers earn approximately 10 percent more than their non-union counterparts, 2. The size of the gap varies from year to yea\r. uring periods of higher unemployment, th impact of unions is greater. During strong economies the union-non-union gap is smaller.
occupational segregation
the historical segregation of women into a small number of occupations such as clerical, sales, nursing, ', and teaching
Paid Vacation
the minimum amount of vacation is either two weeks or three weeks per year.
EMPLOYMENT STANDARDS ACTS
these laws all specify a minimum hourly wage, paid vacations, paid holidays, standard hours of work and overtime pay, pay for employees who are terminated by the company minimum age of employment, and equal pay for equal work by men and women.
Minimum Age of Employment
All jurisdictions have established a minimum age for employment, ranging from 14 to 17. These rules are qualified by exemptions for specifiec occupations such as certain types of agricultural work and vocational training programs.
Equal Pay for Equal Work by Men and Women
All jurisdictions require that men and women who are doing similar work be paid equally -.The legislation also applies to men and women doing substantially the same work, based on an assessment of skill, effort, responsibility, and working conditions required in each case.
pay equity process:
Identify the unit for which the pay equity plan will be developed. Identify job classes with similar duties and responsibilities. Identify male and female job classes. Assess the value of jobs using a gender-neutral (free of gender bias) job evaluation system based on the criteria of - Skill, including intellectual and physical qualifications acquired by experience, training, education, or natural ability, but not considering the methods by which skills are acquired - Effort, including both physical and intellectual effort - Responsibility, for technical, financial, and human resources, and -Working conditions, including both the physical and the psychological conditions, such as noise, temperature, isolation, physical danger, health hazards, and stress Compare male and female job classes using one of the following (varies by jurisdiction): The job-to-job method, in which each female job class is compared to each male job The proportional value/wage line method The proxy comparison method, v
Differences in Industries and Firms
It is also known that the size of a firm is related systematically to differences in wages. Female employment is more heavily concentrated in small firms. Wages of men in large firms are 54 percent higher than wages of men in small firms. That gap was only 37 percent for women in small versus large firms 7omen and minorities who were MBA graduates from five universities did not obtain the same pay increases as their white male classmates when they switched jobs."" The authors speculate that the reason that women and minorities did not receive a comparable premium is that they lack the well-developed social networks that provide "inside information" on job opportunities. A weaker network may hurt them in the pay bargaining process, too.
Minimum Wage
Minimum wage laws are intended to provide an income floor for workers in society's least productive jobs. Minimum wage discussion is also relevant to the social good of the people who are not faring well in the market economy ^ Some make the case that continuing a low minimum wage permits the continuation of boring, dead-end jobs that ought to be modernized. If employers are forced to pay higher wages, they will find it worthwhile to offer training to employees to increase their economic value.
The Structure of Wages
One dimension of this issue concerns the division between direct wages and employee benefits. Research indicates that the presence of a union adds about 20 to 30 percent to employee benefit; A second dimension of the wage structure issue is the evolution of two-tier pay plans. With two-tier pay plans, which are basically a phenomenon of the union sector, a contract is negotiated ^^t specifies employees hired afi:er a given target date will receive lower wages than their nign seniority peers working the same or similar jobs. Fr
Paid Holidays
The number of paid holidays varies from five to nine across the country, but all jurisdictions include New Year's Day, cod Friday, Canada Day, Labour Day, and Christmas Day.
Wage Adjustment Provisions
There are three major ways these adjustments might be specified: (1) deferred wage increases, (2) reopener clauses, and (3) cost-of-living adjustments (COIA) or escalator clauses, j A deferred wage increase is negotiated at the time of initial contract negotiations, with the timing and amount specified in the contract. A reopener clause Specifies that wages, and sometimes such non-wage items as pension and benefits, will be renegotiated at a specified time or under certain conditions. Finally a COLA clause, as noted earlier, involves periodic adjustments based typically on changes in the consumer price index.
