Affirmative Action and
Employment Equity
March 18, 2002
Employment Equity: What is It?

employment equity (def): ensuring that
employers identify and remove employment
barriers...and take appropriate special
measures to ensure the representation of
disadvantaged groups consistent with their
availability in the labour force
Employment Equity: Why?

groups in society that have faced historical and
continuing discrimination
 systemic barriers to employment of
disadvantaged group




underrepresented in overall workforce
underrepresented in specific industries/job categories –
e.g. pink ghetto
underrepresented in upper management – e.g. “glass
ceiling”
time alone will not correct the problem –
requires government intervention
Canada and the United States

which is more likely to adopt employment
equity?
 why?
– political culture
 equality of opportunity
 equality of results
Canada and the United States

which is more likely to adopt employment
equity?
 why?
– political culture
 equality of opportunity (United States)
 equality of results (Canada)
Canada and the United States

which is more likely to adopt employment
equity?
 why?
– political culture
 equality of opportunity (United States)
 equality of results (Canada)
– context...
Context – “The American Dilemma”

strong American commitment to political
principles
– egalitarianism – “all men are created equal”
– individualism and personal liberty
 emphasis on freedom from government

history of slavery, racism and segregation
– history in conflict with principle of egalitarianism
– solutions (usually relying on government) in conflict
with principle of individualism and limited gov’t
Affirmative Action in the United
States – “Keys to the Kingdom”

Equal Pay Act 1963
 Civil Rights Act 1964
 affirmative action -- 1965


“You do not take a person who, for years, has been
hobbled by chains...and then say you are free to compete
with all the others, and still just believe that you have
been completely fair.”
Lyndon B. Johnson, 1965
programs and policies to actively encourage/enforce
proportional representation of disadvantaged groups
Affirmative Action in the United
States – “Keys to the Kingdom”

affirmative action -- 1965
AA in federal public service by presidential executive
order (1965-)
 federal contractors program (1965)
 university admissions
 public school integration (including forced bussing)
– characteristics
 focus on numerical targets for proprotional representation
 quotas

Affirmative Action in the United
States – The Denouement

Bakke v. UCal Davis, 1978
 federal contractors program under Reagan


“...affirmative action under the contract compliance
program ceased to exist in all but name after 1980.”
J.S. Leonard, 1994
Hopwood v. Texas, 1996
 Proposition 209 (California, 1996)
 by the mid-1990s, affirmative action seriously
under challenge...
Employment Equity in Canada

Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms:
– S.15(1): Every individual is equal before and under
the law and has the right to the equal protection and
equal benefit of the law without discrimination and, in
particular, without discrimination based on race,
national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or
mental or physical disability.
Employment Equity in Canada

Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms:
– S.15(1)
– S.15(2): Subsection (1) does not preclude any law,
program or activity that has as its object the
amelioration of conditions of disadvantaged individuals
or groups including those that are disadvantaged
because of race, national or ethnic origin, colour,
religion, sex, age or mental or physical ability.
Employment Equity in Canada

Employment Equity Act and Federal
Contractors Act
– adopted in 1986 (amended 1995)
– applies to...
 federal public service
 federally regulated sectors (e.g. banking)
 contractors (>$200,000) with the federal goverment
(with more than 100 employees)
 5% of Canadian labour force
Employment Equity in Canada

legislation
 target groups

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aboriginals
disabled
visible minorities
women
Employment Equity in Canada

legislation/target groups
 requirements

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employers required to collect data on target groups
attempt to identify reasons where underrepresentation occurs
identify barriers to employment
implement plan to remove barriers
set own goals (including timetables) for addressing
under-representation
Employment Equity in Canada

legislation/target groups/requirements
 issues (i.e. potential barriers to
employment)


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job assignment
training
compensation (pay equity)
promotion
terms and conditions of employment
workplace culture/climate
Employment Equity in Canada

legislation/target groups/requirements/issues
 limits

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no quotas
cannot be required to hire unqualified persons
requirements cannot cause “undue hardship”
cannot be required to create new positions
– compliance
 does not mean having representative workforce
 means meeting the required steps to identifying potential
barriers and making “reasonable progress” toward
equitable representation
Employment Equity in Canada

legislation/target groups/requirements/
issues/limits
– enforcement
 Canadian Human Rights Commission
 performs audits (as of 1996)
 penalties (for violation)
– tribunal directives to cease discriminatory
practices
– fines
Affirmative Action (US) vs.
Employment Equity

Canadians more familiar with Affirmative
Action?
 opponents of Employment Equity in Canada
often refer to it as Affirmative Action

apparent reference to the severe division over
affirmative action in the US
Affirmative Action (US) vs.
Employment Equity

AA usually associated with numeric quotas
– in EE quotas are extremely rare
 AA in US is broader than EE in Canada
– applies to broader range of issues than in
Canada


university admissions
AA is also narrower than EE in Canada
Employment Equity in Canada

legislation
 target groups
 areas (potential barriers to employment)






job assignment
training
compensation (pay equity)
promotion
terms and conditions of employment
workplace culture/climate
Measures of Effectiveness

ratio of proportion of workforce to
proportion of population
 ratios of representation/hiring to available
candidates in workforce
– necessary but not sufficient condition

vertical equity

are disadvantaged groups represented proportionally
throughout the organization (including upper levels)
or just at lower levels
Main Messages!!!
context – NOT political culture – was
crucial in shaping the development of
programs in the two countries
 politics of employment equity in Canada
have been significantly shaped by the
politics of affirmative action in the US
