FAQ | Wage Gap Reduction Initiative | Government of New Brunswick

FAQ

1. What is the wage gap?

Wage gap is the difference between the average wages earned by men and the average wages earned by women.

2. What causes the wage gap?

The wage gap is caused by outdated societal attitudes and beliefs about the place and value of women in the workplace and the behaviours these attitudes and beliefs foster.

Contributors to the wage gap are:

1. The balancing of work and family responsibilities of working women
Because of family responsibilities women do not rise as quickly – or as far – in their careers as men do. For example, due to family needs, women will take jobs that do not compete with family or work fewer hours than men; or, women cannot commit to the overtime hours, travel or relocation often required for career growth;

2. The job/industry clustering of working women
More than one third of New Brunswick's working women are clustered in only 10 job classifications. Many of these jobs use skills that women traditionally use at home (e.g. nursing, teaching, serving, child care, cooking, cleaning). In 2005, the average employment income for the 10 most common female occupations is $24,742;

3. The under-valuation of traditional female occupations
The under-valuation of traditional female jobs contributes to the wage gap. In many cases, women's work is paid less than men's work of equal value.

3. How do I calculate the wage gap?

The wage gap can be determined using the following calculation or you may try our online wage gap calculator.

X =	Women's average hourly wage	x 100%
	Men's average hourly wage

	Wage Gap = 100% - X

4. What is New Brunswick's wage gap?

In 2007, New Brunswick's wage gap is 12.6% based on average hourly wage.

5. What is the difference between Pay Equity and Wage Gap?

Although the terms wage gap and pay equity are frequently used interchangeably, they are not the same thing. However, they both relate to the same concern, that is the gap in earnings between men and women.

Wage gap is the difference between the average wages earned by men and the average wages earned by women.

Pay equity is equal pay for work of equal value. Pay equity addresses one of the three contributors to the wage gap, that is the under-valuation of traditional female occupations. To achieve pay equity, employers need to assess all jobs for their value, and then assign equal wages for jobs of equal value.

6. Why is it important to reduce the wage gap?

It’s important to reduce the wage gap because it is one way to gain immediate and long-term economic improvements at a time of pressing need.

Demographics - New Brunswick 's population is declining and aging faster than the rest of Canada's. New Brunswick's demographics point to not only a shrinking labour force, but also a rise in demand for skilled workers. An increase in skilled workers is critical to sustain our economy. Women are a key element of the solution because they represent nearly half the labour force, yet many are underemployed or not employed to their full potential. It has been proven that strategies to reduce the wage gap also increase the number of skilled workers, create a stable workforce and improve a company's bottom line.

Cost Saving - With a wage gap, women face greater challenges to their human rights, their economic status and their quality of life and health. All these bring costs to the economy. Encouraging women's economic equality will address many of these costs.

7. Whose job is it to reduce the wage gap?

Reducing the wage gap is all of our responsibility. Employers, government and communities will need to work together through education and awareness of the wage gap in order to shift societal attitudes and beliefs about the place and value of women in the workplace to better support a progressive society of working women and working men.

8. What is government doing to reduce the wage gap?

Government is committed to addressing the wage gap through a range of strategies outlined in its Wage Gap Action Plan. Government will also lead its partners in identifying and developing a new set of attitudes to support a society in which men and women are economic equals and develop and provide tools to assist employers in meeting their wage gap reduction goals.

9. Why should employers reduce its workplace wage gap?

Research has shown that factors that contribute to the wage gap such as the balancing between work and family responsibilities impacts the workplace environment and employee satisfaction. This can result in human resources challenges and costs that may include:

Costs from employee turnover
Recruitment and hiring costs
Training costs
Costs in lost productivity
Costs in lost sales

Through workplace wage gap strategies, employers can benefit from:

Increase retention & reduce turnover of staff
Strengthen recruitment efforts
Lower absenteeism
Decrease workplace stress
Improve workplace morale
Secure a stable workforce
Solve workplace skills needs / shortages

These benefits can lead to increased workplace productivity.

10. How can an employer reduce its workplace wage gap?

Employers can reduce its workplace wage gap using the Employer Toolkit to assess the wage gap and its workplace impacts. Find out more and get started today by downloading your free employer toolkit.

11. What is work-life balance?

Work-life balance is a state of well-being that is achieved when a person is able to manage his/her responsibilities at work, at home, and in their personal lives with minimal negative or stressful impact.

12. What is pay equity legislation? Does it work?

It is a law that requires employers to set wages on the basis of the value of each job. Jobs must be assessed and then paid on the basis of their value. Because female-dominated jobs are often paid below male-dominated jobs of equal value, this law ensures that all jobs of equal value are paid equally. It does this by applying the wage rates of comparable male-dominated jobs to the female-dominated jobs of equal value.

In Canada:

Ontario has had pay equity legislation for its public and private sector employers since 1989.
In 1997, Quebec adopted pay equity legislation for its public and private sectors.
Most other provinces have pay equity legislation to cover some part of their public sector employees.
New Brunswick has pay equity legislation for Part I of its Civil Service.

There has been no evidence that pay equity legislation eliminates the wage gap on its own. The wage gap will only be eliminated when all factors that cause the wage gap are addressed together which is what the Wage Gap Action Plan aims to do.

13. What are government’s commitments to pay equity?

Government will:

Make pay equity tools available to employers, for instance, a business case for sound pay equity practices, fact sheets, model gender-neutral job evaluation tools, calculator models, etc.;
Assist employers to use these tools;
Achieve pay equity in the public service.

Within the Charter for Change this government has also committed to the following four pay equity goals:

Ensure that the Pay Equity Act applies to all parts of the public service.
To establish clear, measurable benchmarks and targets for the achievement of pay equity, supported by yearly progress updates.
Bring together all stakeholders to further address issues raised at recent public hearings, with the goal of extending pay equity to the private sector through legislation. Existing advisory groups will continue to gather stakeholders’ input, which the government will assess over the course of the current Wage Gap Action Plan.
Establish government as a model employer by starting job evaluations to extend pay equity to workers providing contracted services to government.

14. How can I find more information on reducing the wage gap?

To learn more about how you can reduce the wage gap at your workplace, visit the Employer Toolkit to download employer tools and resources or contact us for more information.