PAY EQUITY

Pay equity generally refers to laws and public and corporate policies that have as their objective the elimination of pay differentials linked to gender, ethnic identity or particular minority status.

Pay equity is usually concerned with correcting gender-based labour market inequality experienced by women. (In principle such policies could apply also to men, but there is little evidence of gendered disadvantage for men in the labour market.)

Main issue is the problem of relatively direct discrimination: women being paid less than men for the same or essentially similar work.

Gender and Pay Equity: Future Research Directions 
Gillian Whitehouse, University of Queensland
Pay inequity, like other aspects of women's disadvantage in employment, has persisted in spite of longstanding measures designed to eradicate it. In Australia, equal pay initiatives led to a marked improvement for women in the early I970s, but recent advancement has been limited, both here and in many other advanced industrialized countries. Observers could conclude that pay equity research and strategy have reached an impasse. This paper identifies a range of current difficulties in researching pay inequity, and argues that, if strategy is to be effectively informed, future research will need to include enhanced ways of clarifying the meaning of the `gender pay gap' and multidisciplinary investigation of the forces inside and outside the labour market that perpetuate and reproduce pay inequality. - apj.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/41/1/116

Pay Equity and Social Work - Miriam L. Freeman 
During the 1980s, pay equity emerged as a major employment and economic issue. Pay equity is proposed as one solution to the gap in wages between white men, women, and men of color. There is an abundance of information on this issue, but little attention has been paid to it in the social work literature. This article discusses the relevance of pay equity for social work and suggests strategies for achieving it. - aff.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/6/1/7

PAY EQUITY AND COMPARABLE WORTH 
JOHN RAISIAN, MICHAEL P. WARD and FINIS WELCH
An important and emerging public policy consideration—generally called equal pay for comparable worth—has received great attention from those who influence or report public policy initiatives. The comparable worth movement is directed at pay equity issues, primarily between men and women. The source of controversy surrounding comparable worth concerns the mechanism for determining wages in the economy—either an unre-stricted market process or a subjective valuation process by designated "pay equity experts." Although the pay and allocation mechanisms and their side effects are controversial, other important questions concern the actual method of equity determination to be used in implementing comparable worth. This paper analyzes, from a general public policy perspective, many of the issues and much of the evidence surrounding comparable worth initiatives. - cep.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/IV/2/4

Progress or Complacency? Pay Equity for Women Circa 2001 - Margaret Gibelman 
This article explores the issue of women's pay in social work within acomparative framework of several other service occupations. A secondaryanalysis of U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics,data on wages and earnings revealed that substantial salary discrepancieson the basis of gender continue to exist throughout theservice professions. An examination of the relationship between salaryand gender for the position of chief executive officer of human-servicerelated nonprofit organizations also revealed significant salary differencesbetween men and women. Several strategic approaches to combatcontinued inequities are discussed within the context of the generallyinhospitable political climate. - aff.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/17/3/279

Pay Equity and Wage Justice - Carol A. Kates, Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY 14850 
Pay equity job evaluations remove some wage bias, but do not resolve class inequalities. It is "socially efficient" to require capital to meet a democratic standard of wage justice, which would require firms to continuously upgrade job values, eliminate unskilled work, reduce hours of work, and pay a high minimum wage. Requiring firms to upgrade and equalize job structures builds on the pay equity argument and addresses both discrimination and class issues. - rrp.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/26/2/1

Recent Trends in Pay Equity: Beyond the Aggregate Statistics 
Gillian Whitehouse, Department of Government, University of Queensland 
The earnings gap between men and women has remained comparatively stable at an aggregate level over the 1990s in Australia. From one perspective, this is a reminder of the considerable difficulty of addressing wage differentials once the most overt forms of wage discrimination have been removed, and of the limited impact of most policy initiatives. From another, it may be seen as evidence that dire predictions about the effects of decentralisation on the earnings gap have failed to materialise. In this paper, I use Australian Bureau of Statistics data to show that a number of different trends are evident underneath the relatively static picture shown by the aggregate statistics, particularly as wage dispersion has increased. The data suggest not only that the prospects for pay equity are far from benign, but also that in the current labour market the issue of gender pay inequality cannot be effectively addressed separately from wage inequality more generally. - jir.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/43/1/66

Equal Pay—Past Experience, Future Directions: A Practitioner's Perspective 
Felicity Rafferty, Senior Federal Industrial Officer, Professional Officers Association, Australian Public Service, 46-48 Colbee Court, Phillip, ACT 2606 
It has been the experience of the Professional Officers Association that the Industrial Relations Commission has not been the major stumbling block to the implementation of the principle of 'equal pay for work of equal value'. Rather, in the association's sphere of operations, the Commonwealth government has been the greatest obstacle to the implementation of equal pay in the predominantly female professions in its own area of employment, in spite of its stated commitment to the commission's 1972 equal pay decision. In recent years the pay equity lobby has tended to underestimate the influence of the federal government with regard to the application of equal pay. To increase the responsiveness of the system to demands for pay equity for women, greater pressure needs to be brought to bear on the government of the day at the national level by a well-organized women's lobby capable of ensuring that the government's policy commitment in this area is genuine, active and continuing. - jir.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/31/4/526

Career Issues for Women Association Executives 
Mentors, Pay Equity; and Boards of Directors - Betty S. Coffey, Stella E. Anderson 
department of management, John A. Walker College of Business, at Appalachian State University 
This article reports the results of a study of the experiences of women association executives: the challenges those women face in their current positions, the career issues that affect women managers, and the ways in which they manage their organizations. Three major issues surfaced in the interviews: (1) the importance of career development and mentors, (2) the prevalence of pay inequity, and (3) the challenges of developing working relationships with board members. Mentors were particularly important to these women in the early stages of their career, for career-oriented advice. Many women are working for less money than their male counterparts (a woman's starting pay often was based on her past salary rather than the value of her current position). Several women reported that their board of directors felt that they could "get more for less" from a woman executive. - cqx.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/39/1/34

Remedying 'Unfair Acts': U.S. Pay Equity by Race and Gender - Lapidus J.; Figart D. M.
Abstract: Case studies in Canada, Australia, and the U.S. have found that pay equity (or comparable worth) has reduced the gender-based wage gap substantially, and results of research on the gender composition of jobs have been used guiding pay equity implementation. But, in general, the racial composition jobs remains overlooked in the literature and in public policy. We extend previous work on eliminating the wage penalty of employment in female-dominated occupations to estimating the potential effect of adopting comparable worth to alleviate race- as well as gender-based wage discrimination. First we report the negative impact of racial-ethnic and female composition of jobs on pay in the U.S. Correcting for this form of wage discrimination, we find that implementing comparable worth would appreciably narrow the race- and gender-based wage gaps and significantly reduce the percent of workers earning poverty-level wages, especially among women of color. Close to 50 percent of women of color and 40 percent of white women currently earning less than the federal poverty threshold for a family of three would be lifted out of poverty. Second, we show that, in addition to the effects of occupational concentration, being a woman, an African-American, or a worker of Hispanic origin negatively and significantly affects pay. Not every type of wage discrimination is alleviated by a pay equity policy, which is why activists have also supported anti-discrimination and affirmative action policies for women and people of color. - ingentaconnect.com

Pay Equity in Minnesota: the Facts Are in - Nina Rothchild, Bonnie Watkins 
This paper presents information about Minnesota's experience with pay equity at both the state and local government levels. Implementation for state government was initiated in 1983 and com pleted in June 1987. Most local governments have completed studies, and implementation is planned within the next few years. The cost to state government has been 3.7 percent of payroll, and the estimated cost to local governments averages 2.6 percent of payroll. Minnesota's experience shows that pay equity can be implemented smoothly at a reasonable cost. - rop.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/7/3/16

ACCOUNTING FOR GENDER DIFFERENTIALS IN JOB INCOME IN CANADA: RESULTS FROM A 1981 SURVEY, Ornstein, Michael D.; Labour Canada: Women's Bureau: 1983. 
ACHIEVING PAY EQUITY IN ONTARIO: THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF WOMEN AND THE LAW RESPONSE TO POLICY DIRECTIONS: AMENDING THE PAY EQUITY ACT, A DISCUSSION PAPER BY THE ONTARIO MINISTRY OF LABOUR, National Association of Women and the Law: 1990. 
ANNUAL REPORT, Pay Equity Commission of Ontario, Toronto. 
CONCEPTUAL AND OPERATIONAL ISSUES CONFRONTING THE EQUAL VALUE APPROACH TO EQUAL PAY, Robb, Roberta Edgecombe: 1984. 
CONTESTING THE MARKET: PAY EQUITY AND THE POLITICS OF ECONOMIC RESTRUCTURING, Deborah M. Figart and Peggy Kahn, 1997.
Abstract: Subjects pertaining to Michigan include Women in the civil service, salaries and sex discrimination in employment. 
EQUAL PAY: COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AND THE LAW, Labour Canada; Cornish, Mary F.: 1986. 
EQUAL PAY FOR COMPARABLE WORK: A BIBLIOGRAPHY, Dworaczek, Marian: 1984. 
EQUAL-PAY-FOR-EQUAL-WORK LEGISLATION IN CANADA, Economic Council of Canada; Alexander, Judith Ann: 1984. 
EQUAL PAY FOR WORK OF EQUAL VALUE AND RELATED ISSUES IN SPORT, PHYSICAL EDUCATION AND RECREATION, Ontario Women's Directorate: 1987. 
EQUAL PAY IN THE OFFICE, Blau, Francine D.: 1977. 
EQUAL PAY LEGISLATION AND IMPLEMENTATION: SELECTED COUNTRIES, Goodwin, Cynthia; Equal Pay Policy Division, Employment Relations and Conditions of Work Branch, Labour Canada: 1984. 
EQUAL VALUE/COMPARABLE WORTH IN THE UK AND THE USA, edited by Peggy Kahn and Elizabeth Meehan: 1992. 
FOCUS ON EQUAL EMPLOYMENT: PAY EQUITY: IMPLICATIONS OF IMPENDING REGULATIONS, Hay Management Consultants: 1986. 
FORUM ON PAY EQUITY: PROCEEDINGS, Nova Scotia Advisory Council on the Status of Women, Halifax: 1988. 
GREEN PAPER ON PAY EQUITY, Honourable Ian Scott, Attorney General and Minister Responsible for Women's Issues: 1985. 
A GUIDE TO PAY EQUITY FOR THE BROADER PUBLIC SECTOR: A JOB EVALUATION SYSTEM, Pay Equity Commission of Ontario: 1994.
Abstract: This guide provides information on the steps needed to set up a job evaluation process, intended for broader public sector employers who will use either the proportional value or proxy comparison method to achieve pay equity. 
JOB EVALUATION: A QUEST FOR GENDER NEUTRALITY UNDER ONTARIO'S PAY EQUITY ACT, Murtha, Julie; Queens's University School of Industrial Relations: 1992. 
JUST GIVE US THE MONEY: A DISCUSSION OF WAGE DISCRIMINATION AND PAY EQUITY, Lewis, Debra J. and Price, Lisa S.; Women's Research Centre, Vancouver: 1988. 
LEGALIZING GENDER INEQUALITY: COURTS, MARKETS AND UNEQUAL PAY FOR WOMEN IN THE UNITED STATES. Robert L. Nelson, William P. Bridges. 1999. 
LEGISLATING PAY EQUITY TO RAISE WOMEN'S WAGES: A PROGRESS REPORT ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ONTARIO, CANADA PAY EQUITY ACT, National Committee on Pay Equity, Washington, DC: 1990. 
MANUAL ON PAY EQUITY: RAISING WAGES FOR WOMEN'S WORK, Joy Ann Grune; Women in the Economy Project: 1981. 
THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF WOMEN AND THE LAW RESPONSE TO THE BRITISH COLUMBIA MINISTRY OF EQUALITY'S PAY EQUITY PROPOSALS OF JULY 17, 1992, National Association of Women and the Law: 1992. 
THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF WOMEN AND THE LAW RESPONSE TO "WORKING TOWARDS EQUALITY" (EMPLOYMENT EQUITY IN ONTARIO), National Association of Women and the Law, written by members of the NAWL Employment and Labour Issues Working Group: 1992. 
THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF WOMEN AND THE LAW SUBMISSION ON THE PAY EQUITY ACT REVIEW 1996, National Association of Women and the Law: 1996. 
THE ONTARIO PAY EQUITY ACT, GENDER-BIAS, AND JOB EVALUATION SYSTEMS: AN ANALYSIS, Levia, Paul; Queen's University School of Industrial Relations, Kingston, Ontario: 1998. 
ONTARIO PAY EQUITY LEGISLATION FOR BROADER PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTORS, Special report (CCH Canadian): 1986. 
PAY EQUITY: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE ONTARIO PAY EQUITY ACT 1987 AND ITS PROPOSED AMENDMENTS, Wolfe, Janis L., Queen's University School of Industrial Relations: 1992. 
PAY EQUITY ACT, 1987, Government of Ontario: 1988. 
PAY EQUITY AND COMPARABLE WORTH, Bureau of National Affairs, Washington, D.C.: 1984. 
PAY EQUITY AND JOB EVALUATION, Manitoba Pay Equity Bureau: 1987. 
PAY EQUITY: EMPIRICAL ENQUIRIES, Robert T. Michael, Heidi I. Hartmann, and Brigid O'Farrell, editors; Panel on Pay Equity Research, Committee on Women's Employment and Related Social Issues, Commission on Behavioural and Social Sciences and Education, National Research Council, Washington, DC: 1989.
Note: Selected papers of a workshop held in Sept. 1987. 
PAY EQUITY HANDBOOK: A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO IMPLEMENTING EQUAL PAY FOR WORK OF EQUAL VALUE IN ONTARIO, Elliott, Cheryl J. and Saxe, Stewart J.: 1992. 
PAY EQUITY IN PREDOMINANTLY FEMALE ESTABLISHMENTS, Marilyn Evans and Associates / prepared for the Pay Equity Commission, Province of Ontario: 1988. 
PAY EQUITY IN PREDOMINANTLY FEMALE ESTABLISHMENTS: CHILDCARE SECTOR, Ontario Pay Equity Commission, Toronto: 1988. 
PAY EQUITY IN PREDOMINANTLY FEMALE ESTABLISHMENTS: HEALTH CARE SECTOR, Ontario Pay Equity Commission, Toronto: 1988. 
PAY EQUITY IN PREDOMINANTLY FEMALE ESTABLISHMENTS: LEATHER, TEXTILE AND APPAREL MANUFACTURING SECTORS, Ontario Pay Equity Commission, Toronto: 1988. 
PAY EQUITY IN PREDOMINANTLY FEMALE ESTABLISHMENTS: MANUFACTURING SECTOR, Ontario Pay Equity Commission, Toronto: 1988. 
PAY EQUITY IN PREDOMINANTLY FEMALE ESTABLISHMENTS: PERSONAL SERVICES SECTOR, Decoito, Paula / prepared for the Pay Equity Commission, Province of Ontario, 1988. 
PAY EQUITY IN PREDOMINANTLY FEMALE ESTABLISHMENTS: RETAIL SECTOR, Ontario Pay Equity Commission, Toronto: 1988. 
PAY EQUITY IN PREDOMINANTLY FEMALE ESTABLISHMENTS: THE COMMUNITY AND SOCIAL SERVICE SECTOR, Findlay, M. Suzanne / prepared for the Pay Equity Commission, Province of Ontario: 1988. 
PAY EQUITY IN PREDOMINANTLY FEMALE ESTABLISHMENTS: THE LIBRARY SECTOR, Roma Harris / prepared for the Pay Equity Commission, Province of Ontario: 1988. 
PAY EQUITY IN PREDOMINANTLY FEMALE ESTABLISHMENTS: TOURISM SECTOR, Sayer and Associates / prepared for the Pay Equity Commission, Province of Ontario: 1988. 
PAY EQUITY IN THE WORKPLACE: Q's & A's, The Pay Equity Commission of Ontario: 1988. 
PAY EQUITY: ISSUES, OPTIONS & EXPERIENCES, Weiner, Nan; Gunderson, Morley: 1990. 
PAY EQUITY LEGISLATION: LINKING ECONOMIC ISSUES AND POLICY CONCERNS, Industrial Relations Centre, Queen's University / edited by Richard P. Chaykowski: 1990.
Abstract: Based on a panel discussion entitled 'Pay equity and comparable worth: a dialogue on issues and implementation', held at Queen's University, May 18, 1988. 
PAY EQUITY STRATEGY AND FEMINIST LEGAL THEORY: CHALLENGING THE BOUNDS OF LIBERALISM, Kainer, Jan; Canadian Journal of Women and the Law: 1995. 
A POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF PAY EQUITY FOR NON-TEACHING EMPLOYEES IN MANITOBA SCHOOL DIVISIONS, Manitoba Pay Equity Bureau: 1990. 
THE RATE FOR THE JOB, Cole, Margaret, London: 1946.
Note: A pamphlet prepared for the Fabian women's group and based on the evidence of the group before the Royal commission on equal pay. 
REPORT OF THE CONSULTATION PANEL ON PAY EQUITY - GREEN PAPER ON PAY EQUITY, Ontario Women's Directorate: 1986. 
REPORT OF THE INTERDEPARTMENTAL COMMITTEE ON PAY EQUITY, Women's Directorate, Fredericton: 1988. 
REPORT TO THE MINISTER OF LABOUR ON SECTORS OF THE ECONOMY WHICH ARE PREDOMINANTLY FEMALE, AS REQUIRED UNDER THE PAY EQUITY ACT, SECTION 33(2)(E), Pay Equity Commission of Ontario, Toronto: 1988. 
REPORT TO THE MINISTER ON THE OPTIONS RELATING TO THE ACHIEVEMENT OF PAY EQUITY IN SECTORS OF THE ECONOMY WHICH ARE PREDOMINANTLY FEMALE, Pay Equity Commission of Ontario: 1989. 
SQUARING UP: POLICY STRATEGIES TO RAISE WOMEN'S INCOME IN THE UNITED STATES. Edited by Mary C. King. Ann Arvor. 2001. 
WAGE DISCRIMINATION AND WOMEN WORKERS: THE MOVE TOWARDS EQUAL PAY FOR WORK OF EQUAL VALUE IN CANADA, Niemann, Lindsay; Labour Canada: Women's Bureau: 1984. 
THE WAGES OF MEN AND WOMEN: SHOULD THEY BE EQUAL, Webb, Beatrice Potter, London: 1919. 
WHAT WORKS: EXPERIENCES WITH IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PAY EQUITY LEGISLATION: FINAL REPORT, Pay Equity Office, Toronto: 1991. 
WOMEN AND EQUAL PAY: THE EFFECTS OF LEGISLATION ON FEMALE EMPLOYMENT AND WAGES IN BRITAIN, Zabalza, Antoni; Tzannstos, Z.: 1985. 
WOMEN/PAY EQUITY EMPLOYMENT LAW NEWS, Vol. 5, no. 1 (Jan. 1989)-.
Abstract: Issued in series: Lancaster labour law reports, and Lancaster's women/pay equity employment law news. 
WOMEN, WORK AND INEQUALITY: THE CHALLENGE OF EQUAL PAY IN A DEREGULATED LABOUR MARKET. Edited by Jeanne Gregory, Rosemary Sales, Ariane Hegewisch. 1999. 
WOMEN, WORK, AND WAGES: EQUAL PAY FOR JOBS OF EQUAL VALUE, Treiman, Donald J.; Hartmann, Heidi; United States National Research Council; Committee on Occupational Classification and Analysis: 1981.

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