Ontario plans to require salary ranges be included in job postings

Ontario is planning to require employers to include salary ranges in job postings and disclose if artificial intelligence is used during the hiring process.

Labour Minister David Piccini says those changes will be part of legislation he will soon introduce and will help workers make informed decisions.

"It's an unacceptable reality that women today in Ontario earn an average of 87 cents for every dollar earned by men," Piccini said at a news conference.

"Including salary ranges with job postings can help close the gender pay gap, while allowing companies to find qualified candidates faster and improve retention, helping tackle the labour shortage."

Piccini's new legislation — he recently took over the file after Monte McNaughton resigned and left government — also proposes to require employers to inform job seekers when they are using AI to inform hiring decisions.

"For a worker who applies today to an online ad, within seconds of hitting send on that resume a recruiter's AI system can choose them as a preferred candidate and screen out thousands of other applicants," he said. 

"AI systems are able to tell age, sex, race, religion, political affiliation and can even evaluate your social media accounts to see if someone's personal traits would be a good fit for a company's culture. Moreover, experts have very legitimate concerns over data collection and personal privacy."

Province also considering banning use of NDAs

Piccini is also announcing today that the province is considering banning the use of non-disclosure agreements in cases of workplace sexual harassment, misconduct or violence.

Piccini is set to announce consultations on the issue Monday, as he discusses his ministry's next piece of legislation.

He says that non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) should never be used to silence victims or to sidestep accountability.

Ontario has previously banned the use of NDAs in sexual misconduct cases among post-secondary employees who are looking for work at a different institution.

Members of the Canadian Bar Association voted in favour of discouraging the use of non-disclosure agreements in cases of abuse and harassment.

The government says seven in 10 workers have reported experiencing a form of harassment or violence in their workplace, with the rates even higher for women and gender-diverse people.

"We want to hear from Ontarians and [our] consultations will work with the legal community, survivors, employers to identify those options to restrict the use of NDAs while protecting the rights of victims," Piccini said in an interview.

"NDAs should never be used to silence victims, and those who've done that, their time's up."

NDP calls wage transparency 'half measure'

In a statement, the New Democratic Party welcomed the consultations. Kristyn Wong-Tam, the opposition critic for the attorney general, said the NDP tabled a bill in June aimed at stopping the misuse of NDAs. 

"I look forward to working with the government to pass this overdue bill as soon as possible," Wong-Tam said in the statement. 

But the NDP was less receptive of the salary posting announcement, calling it a "half-measure."

In a statement, Jill Andrew, the party's critic for women's social and economic opportunity, said while she was glad to see this "small step," there needs to be more measures for enforcement, reporting and tracking of wage gaps to achieve pay equity. 

Shortly after the Progressive Conservatives formed government in 2018 they paused implementation of a law from the previous Liberal government that would have required all publicly advertised job postings to include a salary rate or range, barred employers from asking about past compensation, prohibited reprisal against employees who discuss compensation and required large employers to track and report compensation gaps.