The province announced on November 6th that they plan to pass new legislation to require employers to post the salary range for positions as part of job posting. The changes will require employers to indicate the salary range for the position available, and whether Artificial Intelligence (AI) is used in an employer’s hiring practice.
The requirement to list salary ranges follows from government data that show that only 37% of online job postings in Ontario included salary information. The province is also explaining this move as targeting the gender wage gap, where salary opaqueness contributes to women making $0.87/hour for every dollar made by a man, a rate that drops notably lower for racialized and indigenous women.
As for the AI part of this, only 7% of employers in Ontario have indicated plans to implement AI in hiring practices by February 2024, but this is aimed at the risk of rapid increase in AI as part of hiring. Given the ethical concerns of using AI in hiring practices, the province hopes the posting requirement will help address concerns of its use.
The proposed changes were introduced for consideration by the provincial legislature on November 23, 2023.
This legislation is targeted at a barrier to newcomers to Canada in the employment market. While Canadian experience isn’t often used in our sector, if this passes (and it hasn’t yet) it will still be important to keep in mind.
This proposed prohibition of requiring Canadian work experience in job postings will be contained in new legislation along with the aforementioned requirement that employers disclose salary ranges within job postings.
We’re going to keep an eye on this one as it moves through the legislature, and will report more here.
Note: This article provides general information only and does not constitute, and should not be relied upon as, legal advice or opinion. PooranLaw Professional Corporation holds the copyright to this article and its contents may not be copied or reproduced in any form, in whole or in part, without the express permission of PooranLaw Professional Corporation.
