Ontario intends to mandate the inclusion of salary ranges in job advertisements.
New legislation introduced on Monday could soon compel Ontario employers to incorporate salary ranges in their job postings, and the province is also contemplating restrictions on the utilization of workplace non-disclosure agreements.
In the latest legislative development announced on Monday, Ontario may soon oblige employers to include salary ranges in their job advertisements, along with contemplating limitations on the use of workplace non-disclosure agreements. Labour Minister David Piccini is preparing to introduce a bill that will encompass the mandate for salary ranges in job postings and the requirement for businesses to disclose their use of artificial intelligence in the hiring process.
“It’s an unacceptable reality that women today in Ontario earn an average of 87 cents for every dollar earned by men,”, “Including salary ranges with job postings can help close the gender pay gap, while allowing companies to find qualified candidates faster and improve retention, helping tackle the labour shortage.”
Jill Andrew, the NDP critic for women’s social and economic opportunity, said Monday’s announcement is good, but a half measure.
“While we are glad to see the minister finally take a small step towards acknowledging the importance of salary transparency, there needs to be measures for enforcement, reporting, and tracking of wage gaps to make sure it is effective in meeting our collective goals to pay equity,” she wrote in a statement.
Following the formation of the Progressive Conservatives government in 2018, they temporarily halted the enforcement of a law initiated by the previous Liberal government. This law would have mandated all publicly advertised job listings to feature salary rates or ranges, prohibited employers from inquiring about past compensation, prevented retaliation against employees discussing compensation, and compelled large employers to monitor and report compensation disparities.
Under the new legislation introduced by Piccini, who took over the responsibility after Monte McNaughton’s departure from government, employers will also be obligated to disclose to job seekers when artificial intelligence is used in the hiring process.
“For a worker who applies today to an online ad, within seconds of hitting send on that resume a recruiter’s AI system can choose them as a preferred candidate and screen out thousands of other applicants,” he said.
“AI systems are able to tell age, sex, race, religion, political affiliation and can even evaluate your social media accounts to see if someone’s personal traits would be a good fit for a company’s culture. Moreover, experts have very legitimate concerns over data collection and personal privacy.”
Additionally, Piccini unveiled on Monday that the province is contemplating prohibiting the utilization of non-disclosure agreements in instances involving workplace sexual harassment, misconduct, or violence.
“We want to hear from Ontarians and (our) consultations will work with the legal community, survivors, employers to identify those options to restrict the use of NDAs while protecting the rights of victims,” Piccini said in an interview.
“NDAs should never be used to silence victims, and those who’ve done that, their time’s up.”
According to government statistics, seven out of ten workers have reported encountering some form of workplace harassment or violence, with even higher prevalence rates among women and gender-diverse individuals.
Previously, Ontario had already prohibited the use of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) in cases of sexual misconduct among post-secondary employees seeking employment at other institutions.
