In Ontario, Bill 148 Guarantees the Province’s Part-Time Faculty Equal Pay
by Jillian Follet
The union representing sessional instructors at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology claims the university is violating new labour laws that require part-time or contract workers to be paid the same as full-time, permanent workers.
Members of Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) Local 555 say sessional lecturers — those who work on short-term contracts — do the same work as their full-time counterparts, but are paid less by the university.
“We are a precarious workforce but thanks to the new labour legislation unions fought for in Ontario, the law states clearly that equal work deserves equal pay,” says Sarah Vollmer, local president for PSAC 555. “We are demanding the university abide by this legislation and more importantly, do what’s right.”
Ontario passed Bill 148 — the Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act — in November 2017. The labor legislation includes a range of changes such as an increased minimum wage and expanded personal emergency leave. It also aims to ensure pay fairness — as of April 1, 2018 employers are required to pay casual, part-time, temporary and seasonal workers the same rate of pay as full-time workers if they are doing “substantially the same work.”
Ontario’s economy, like others around the world, has changed. Work is different and, for many people, increasingly less secure. Many workers struggle to support their families on part-time, contract or minimum-wage work, and many more don’t have access to time off due to illness. To address this changing workplace environment, the Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act, 2017 was passed on November 22, 2017. This legislation made a number of changes to both the Employment Standards Act, 2000, the Labour Relations Act, 1995, and the Occupational Health and Safety Act, including raising the minimum wage and providing employees with:
- equal pay for equal work on the basis of employment status and assignment employee status
- one week’s notice or pay in lieu of notice for employees of temporary help agencies if longer-term assignments end early
- fairer scheduling rules
- a minimum of three weeks’ vacation after five years with the same employer
- up to 10 individual days of leave and up to 15 weeks of leave, without the fear of losing their job when an employee or their child has experienced or is threatened with domestic or sexual violence
- expanded personal emergency leave to all workplaces regardless of number of employees
- unpaid leave to take care of a critically ill family member
Employers are exempt if the wage difference is based on factors such as a seniority or merit system, or systems that measure earnings by quantity or quality of production.
Asked for comment, UOIT issued a statement confirming that it is engaged in collective bargaining negotiations with PSAC.
“While the university fully intends to keep confidential the matters being negotiated at this time, it is our position that we have been, and continue to be, fully compliant with the provisions of Bill 148,” the statement notes.
The union maintains that’s not the case.
For example, Vollmer says a sessional instructor is paid a base rate of $7,200 per course, while a full-time instructor is paid a base rate of $8,400 to teach the same course — “the only difference is the title,” she notes.
Sessional faculty also have to reapply for their jobs every 15 to 17 weeks, which advocates says makes it difficult to buy a home or plan for retirement.
PSAC started collective bargaining with the university April 16, and a major obstacle has been equal pay.
UOIT filed for conciliation on April 26, and a mediator has been appointed.
