Will new rules only involve employees making $100,000 or less?
Ontario will soon make it mandatory for employers to disclose wages or a salary range in job postings.
The proposal is part of the new “Working for Workers” legislation, with the aim of increasing transparency for job seekers, according to a CTV News report. The legislation will be tabled when MPPs return to Queen’s Park the week of Nov. 14.
According to Labour Minister David Piccini, the details regarding the salary range requirements will be worked out after a consultation period. However, he noted that lack of transparency would continue if the salary range is too broad.
Piccini also hinted that the government may start with salaries under $100,000 a year.
“When worker salaries are kept secret, there's only one beneficiary and that's businesses,” Piccini told CTV News Toronto. “How many times have people applied for jobs just to find out at the end of the process that it's nowhere near the salary range they were looking for?”
Ontario isn’t the only province to require salary transparency in job postings. Prince Edward Island has similar legislation, and British Columbia’s pay transparency legislation took effect Nov. 1.
“All employers need to be transparent about what people are being paid to close the pay gap between men and women,” said Kelli Paddon, parliamentary secretary for gender equity when the B.C. legislation was announced. “Our work doesn’t end here. We’re determined to continue our engagement with all of our partners to close the pay gap and ensure people get the fair payment they deserve.”
The new Ontario legislation will also require employers to inform job seekers if artificial intelligence (AI) is being used in the hiring process, something that is an “increasing reality” of the workplace, said Piccini in the CTV News report.
The minister also said that the use of technology such as AI has led to increasing concerns regarding biases and privacy. However, he also noted that studies have shown how AI can help combat issues such as pay equity during the hiring process.
If enacted, this would make Ontario the first jurisdiction in Canada to mandate disclosures of AI use in hiring.
