Concordia University is committed to the principle of pay equity, and has been diligently working to meet its obligations under the Pay Equity Act. These efforts involved working with the Concordia Pay Equity Committee whose members included representatives from the university as well as from support staff (CUSSU), professional staff (CUPEU) and non-unionized staff, including ACUMAE.
Pay equity is, in essence, equal pay for work of comparable value. The act states that jobs must be evaluated and work mostly or traditionally done by women be compared to work mostly or traditionally done by men. If jobs are of comparable value, then female jobs must be paid the same as male jobs.
The committee's work resulted in a Pay Equity Program for the following employee groups:
- Support Staff (CUSSU)
- Professional Staff (CUPEU)
- Non-unionized employees including ACUMAE (management and administrative staff), teaching assistants, research assistants, casual (timesheet) and contractual employees
In March 2011, the committee published the list of 70 pay equity job classes eligible for a pay equity adjustment.
Retroactive pay equity adjustments
Many employers in Quebec have benefited from the ability to calculate the pay equity adjustments in instalments. The Pay Equity Act automatically allows employers to calculate payments in this way when using data as at November 2001. A change in the legislation provided employers with the ability to use data as at February 1, 2009.
“As a consequence of Concordia deciding to use 2009 data, which are more reliable and accurate, we were not automatically accorded the benefit provided to other employers using the older 2001 data. In assessing how best to move forward in meeting our obligations to our employees, Concordia made a request to the Quebec Pay Equity Commission to calculate the pay equity payments in instalments,” explains Carolina Willsher, associate vice-president, Human Resources. “This decision was not taken lightly and took into consideration the impact of the total cost of the pay equity exercise on the university's current financial situation.”
The commission is still considering this request; however, Concordia does not wish to delay the payment of retroactive pay equity adjustments, reflecting its commitment to making these payments in 2011, says Willsher.
As a result, affected employees will be receiving a letter over the course of the next week explaining their individual pay equity adjustments. These adjustments will be paid on December 16. If the Pay Equity Commission does not grant the university's request, Concordia will make the necessary modifications to pay equity adjustments at a later date.
