“I think this is a good start, but I do think we need to have more in-depth discussions and more in-depth supervision… to ensure that more people benefit,” Andrea Gunla, vice president of public engagement at the Canadian Women’s Association Said Andrea Gunraj. basis.

Although Gunraj is generally positive about the legislation, she said that its impact will be limited to a small number of working Canadians.

“It’s hard to say that it will have such a big impact on our entire labor market,” she said.

The new legislation means that employers of federal regulators with 10 or more employees will have three years to determine and correct the pay gap in their workforce—a gap that usually results in women earning less than men.

According to government data, women in the Canadian workforce earn approximately 89 cents for every dollar they earn.

According to Statistics Canada and numerous reports, during the pandemic, women suffered more severe and lasting economic losses than men.

Approximately 1.3 million people, or 6% of Canadian workers, are employed by federal regulators and will be affected by the new legislation.

This includes industries such as banking, air travel, railways and most royal companies.

How to define “work of equal value”

Labor Minister Filomena Tassi said her government’s new approach to pay equity will have a “transformational” impact on the ongoing income gap faced by women.

The regulation aims to solve this problem by forcing employers to conduct a thorough review of their workforce. The goal is to provide employees with “equal pay for equal work.”

In other words, employers cannot just calibrate wages for women and men in exactly the same positions. Instead, they must identify all roles in their organization that provide a similar level of value, and then raise wages if they find that the work is underpaid.

Employers must consider “the skills, effort, responsibilities and working conditions of these jobs,” said legislation.

Tasi told CBC News: “We see women in nursing, service and other occupations, and these occupations are mainly underestimated.”

Canadian Pay Equity Commissioner Karen Jensen will be able to impose fines of up to 99 employees for non-compliance with employers of CAD 30,000 and employers with more labor force of CAD 50,000.

Legislation leaves “a lot of room for interpretation”

But Jordan Kirkness, a labor and employment lawyer for Baker McKenzie, warned that the value of different jobs can be explained, which could complicate labor review.

He said the federal government has provided strong guidelines for employers to conduct these reviews, but he expects disputes related to the bill to be inevitable.

“Compliance with the Act is more than just following simple instructions. There is a lot of room for interpretation,” Koknis said.

Despite this, he still described these regulations as a positive step and said that they are more comprehensive than the pay equity laws already implemented in some provinces.

It is also unclear whether the legislation will have any impact on employees in workplaces that are not governed by federal regulations.

Tasi said the government has shown “strong leadership” in pay equity, but organizations outside of federal jurisdiction will not need to comply with the new regulations.

Gunraj says that this can happen under certain circumstances—especially if workers and labor groups push for change.

“This is a good sign of what needs to happen. This may be a way people in the union department say,’Hey, it’s happening here, how about we do the same in our department?'” she said.

New Democratic Party women and gender equality commentator Lindsay Mathyssen said she was happy to see the legislation take effect-although she pointed out that it was “too late” to resolve the economic gap that has increased due to the pandemic.