9
THE PAY EQUITY COMMITTEE
In a small organization, joint employer-employee participation can be informal. On the
other hand, in a large organization, it can be highly structured and involve clearly defined
responsibilities and procedures. In a small organization, joint participation can take the
form of a very small Committee composed, for example, of one employer representative
and two employee representatives. The work of such a Committee will be made easier if
they can resort to expertise and information documents made available by a specialized
government body. In Sweden, Great Britain and Canada (in the provinces of Ontario and
Quebec) in particular, public bodies have produced simplified documents on implementing
pay equity, aimed at small organizations. Models exist which are flexible and well-suited to
small and medium-sized enterprises. Moreover, as managers of small and medium-sized
enterprises have pointed out, the resulting benefits of pay equity are considerable.
3
In the
case of a small enterprise with approximately ten jobs
4
to be evaluated, the programme
can be completed in a short space of time – as little as a week – if those in charge of the
process have been given pertinent training beforehand (see further below).
In a medium-sized or large enterprise, a larger and more structured Committee can be set
up, ensuring that the various parties will be represented, that is, the employer, unionized
employees and non-unionized employees. If there are a considerable number of jobs to
be evaluated, steps 1 to 5 could take up to two years to complete, especially when those
in charge of the process devote only a few hours per week to it. In a very large organiza-
tion or in the public service where the number of different jobs is very high, that is, 150
or even more, the process could take up to three years to complete, but these cases are
exceptional.
Roles of the Pay Equity Committee
The roles played by the Committee should be quite broadly defined, given that the vari-
ous steps of a pay equity programme, as described above, are closely interdependent.
Identifying the gender predominance of jobs allows participants, right from the start, to
become familiar with the various jobs in the enterprise and their main characteristics; the
choice or adaptation of a job evaluation method forces participants to understand what
constitutes gender bias related to job evaluation and to develop skilled use of this tool,
which is so important for the process; data collection is closely tied to the job evaluation
method used since the questionnaire is developed based on the factors and sub-factors
identified. Consequently, it would appear to be logical and desirable that all the steps in
the programme be carried out by the same group of people. A body of knowledge and
skills is gradually acquired along the way and it would be unfortunate not to make the
best use of this asset throughout the entire exercise. The most suitable option is therefore
that a single Pay Equity Committee be responsible for all the steps in the programme, or
at least the first five, and that its composition, insofar as is possible, remain stable.
5
This
will allow for effective progress and:
‚ ensure consistency in the process;
‚ lead to the development of solid in-house expertise
in the areas of equality and job evaluation;
‚ reduce delays caused when Committee members change between steps.
3
Comparative analysis of promoting pay equity : models and impacts, Marie-Thérèse Chicha, 2006 ; International Labour Office, InFocus
Programmeme on Promoting the Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. p. 9.
4
It should be specified that these are jobs and not employees. There may be 10 jobs but 20 or so employees.
5
Indeed, the longer the process is stretched out, the higher the risk of having to replace one or more Committee members.
The Pay Equity Committee