Affirmative Action and Employment Equity: Policy, Ideology, and Backlash in Canadian Context

2007 ◽  
Vol 79 (1) ◽  
pp. 145-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abigail B. Bakan ◽  
Kobayashi Audrey
Keyword(s):  
Affirmative Action ◽  
Employment Equity ◽  
Canadian Context ◽  
Equity Policy

Equal Opportunity and Gender Disadvantage

1994 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lesley A. Jacobs
Keyword(s):  
Affirmative Action ◽  
Equal Opportunity ◽  
Wage Gap ◽  
Equality Of Opportunity ◽  
Gender Inequalities ◽  
Pay Equity ◽  
Employment Equity ◽  
Equal Pay ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The Ideal

Recently, in Canada both the Federal Government and various provincial governments have introduced a series of measures intended to address gender inequalities in the workplace. These measures are of two basic types. Employment equity policies involve the implementation of affirmative action programmes designed to encourage the hiring and promotion of more women in, for example, the civil service. Pay equity policies have sought to institutionalize the principle of equal pay for work of equal value or, to use the American terminology, comparable worth. The aim of this paper is to resurrect the presently out of fashion view that the principles of affirmative action and comparative worth that underlie employment equity and pay equity can be defended on the grounds that they contribute to the realization of an ideal of equality of opportunity between men and women in Canadian society. This view, although once prevalent among those concerned with gender issues, has been pushed aside, largely because of doubts about the visionary depth of the ideal of equality of opportunity. It has been replaced instead by an ideal of equality of results which emphasizes the goal of reducing the gender wage gap. It is my intention here to formulate a principle of equality of opportunity that can incorporate recent feminist legal and political philosophy in a way that offers a promising way to analyze issues posed by gender inequalities in the workplace and, as a result, provide a clear rationale for the recent employment equity and pay equity initiatives in Canada.

Public Service Transformation and Affirmative Action Perspectives in South Africa

1996 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
P.S. Reddy ◽  
R.B.G. Choudree
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Affirmative Action ◽  
Private Sector ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Bill Of Rights ◽  
Employment Equity ◽  
Effective Mechanism ◽  
The Public ◽  
General Acceptance

Affirmative action is on the agenda in South Africa. It is generally accepted that the new constitution will include a bill of rights which will contain a clause ensuring equality of all persons. It is this clause which will outlaw discrimination and which will sanction affirmative action. However, it is probably that the bill of rights will have to be supplemented by legislation on discrimination, affirmative action and employment equity, which will determine, for example whether and how the Public Service (and the private sector) are compelled or permitted to implement affirmative action. While approaches and strategies to affirmative action vary considerably, there is general acceptance that it may be an effective mechanism of ensuring social justice in the public service. It can play a pivotal role in equalizing and democratizing public instirutions in South Africa.

scholarly journals Reviewing the suitability of affirmative action and the inherent requirements of the job as grounds of justification to equal pay claims in terms of the Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998

2018 ◽  
Vol 21 ◽  
pp. 1-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shamier Ebrahim
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Affirmative Action ◽  
South African ◽  
International Labour Organisation ◽  
Employment Equity ◽  
Equal Pay ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Labour Organisation

The purpose of this article is to analyse the grounds of justification to pay discrimination as contained in South African law, the Conventions and Materials of the International Labour Organisation and the equal pay laws of the United Kingdom. Lastly, an analysis will be undertaken to determine whether affirmative action and the inherent requirements of the job provide justifications proper to equal pay claims. 

scholarly journals What Should the Goals Be? Employment Equity for Female Faculty in Canada

1989 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-48
Author(s):  
John H. Blakely
Keyword(s):  
Women Faculty ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
Gender Composition ◽  
Female Faculty ◽  
Employment Equity ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Canadian Universities ◽  
Equity Policy ◽  
Year 2000 ◽  
The Impact

This paper investigates the process of setting employment equity goals and timetables for female faculty in Canadian universities. First, the paper identifies the conditions under which a goal of a 50-50 balance between men and women faculty members by the year 2000 can be achieved. Second, it identifies criteria for evaluating the reasonableness of this goal. Third, given that such criteria as external availability, impact on labour demand and fairness suggest that this goal may not be reasonable, the question becomes: what should the goals be? The paper addresses this question by analyzing the impact of alternative hiring targets (reflecting alternative assumptions about external availability) on the gender composition of faculty in the year 2000. These hiring targets range from an extremely conservative 16.8% female to an optimistic 44.4% female. Under appropriate assumptions, these yield gender composition estimates ranging from 17.5% to 35.4%. While recognizing that availability will vary across universities, it is hoped that the estimates provided herein will inform debates on setting employment equity goals: l)by illustrating and elaborating on a methodology for establishing goals and timetables; and 2) by providing lower-bound and upper-bound estimates (along with estimates based upon moderate assumptions) to illustrate the range of possibilities under Canadian employment equity policy.

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