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Employment Equity Compliance Program

The Employment Equity Act requires employers to develop and implement an employment equity program, in consultation and collaboration with employee representatives, including unions. The goal of the program is to remove barriers for the four designated groups—women, visible minorities, Aboriginal peoples and persons with disabilities—in order to achieve a representative workforce. The Act specifies employers’ responsibilities and gives the Commission the authority to ensure compliance through the conduct of audits.

The Employment Equity Compliance Program assists in creating a culture of human rights by helping to achieve equality in the workplace so that no person is denied employment opportunities or benefits for reasons unrelated to ability. In fulfilling this goal, the program helps correct the conditions of disadvantage often experienced by women, Aboriginal peoples, persons with disabilities and members of visible minorities.

Profile of employers subject to the Act

Table 1 - Employers and employees by industry sector, subject to the Employment Equity Act, audited or under audit

figure 1 shows the number of employers subject to the employment equity act and the number of employees in each sector, including those who have been or are being audited. in the private sector, as of december 31, 2008, in the banking sector 26 employers with 212,020 employees were subject to the act, and 17 employers with 173,475 employees have completed audits or are under audit. in the communications sector, 92 employers with 234,338 employees were subject to the act and 46 employers with 171,944 employees have completed audits or are under audit. in the transportation sector, 347 employers with 206,111 employees were subject to the act and 111 employers with 134,802 employees have completed audits or are under audit. in the other sector, 79 employers with 91,418 employees were subject to the act and 37 employers with 62,771 employees have completed audits or are under audit. in the federal public service, as of march 31, 2009, 74 employers with 195,667 were subject to the act, and 70 employers with 170,869 employees have completed audits or are under audit. in separate federal agencies, as of march 31, 2009, 17 employers with 71,491 employees were subject to the act, and 13 employers with 70,590 employees have completed audits or are under audit. in other public sector employers, as of march 31, 2009, 2 employers with 136,200 employees were subject to the act, and 2 employers with 136,200 employees have completed audits or are under audit. a total of 637 employers with a total of 1,147,245 employees are subject to the act, and 296 employers with 920,651 employees have completed audits or are under audit.

Table 1 indicates that:

  • 296 (46%) of the 637 employers under the Act have been audited or are in the process of being audited;
  • these 296 employers comprise 80% of the workforce (920,651 employees); and
  • there has been an increase of about 30,000 employees this year (from 1,116,989 in 2008 to 1,147,245 this year).

Table 2 – Percentage of Employers and Employees under the Employment Equity Act Covered by Audits

figure 2 represents the percentage of employers and employees under the employment equity act covered by audits. the percentage of employers covered by audits was 27 percent in 1998; 35 percent in 1999; 44 percent in 2000; 45 percent in 2001, 51 percent in 2002; 55 percent in 2003; 52 percent in 2004; 40 percent in 2005; 41 percent in 2006; 41 percent in 2007, 43 percent in 2008 and 46 percent in 2009. the percentage of employees covered by audits was 20 percent in 1998; 23 percent in 1999; 56 percent in 2000; 82 percent in 2001; 75 percent in 2002; 76 percent in 2003; 77 percent in 2004; 76 percent in 2005; and 77 percent in 2006; 75 percent in 2007; 80 percent in 2008 and 80% in 2009.

Table 2 shows the percentage of employers and employees who have been audited since the Commission began to conduct audits in 1997. The decline in the number of employers between 2004 and 2005 is due to the fact that some employers, who had been subjected to an audit, are no longer under the Act.

Audit results

Under the Act, federally regulated employers are to analyze their workforce and review their employment systems in order to develop a meaningful Employment Equity Plan. When under-representation exists for the designated groups, employers are required to identify potential employment barriers and implement an Employment Equity Plan, which will lead to progress in achieving equality. It is the employers’ obligation to monitor the implementation of the plan and the resulting employment equity progress achieved. They must also review and revise the plan accordingly. These activities are to be conducted in consultation with the employee representatives.

In conducting audits, the Canadian Human Rights Commission counts on employers’ cooperation and their continued efforts to achieve the goals of the Employment Equity Act. The audit process is based on this premise of negotiation and persuasion, dictated by the Act as a guiding principle. It is the Commission’s own long-standing practice that, wherever possible, undertakings be agreed upon to redress areas of non-compliance. Should this process fail, the Commission may issue a Direction and either party may appeal to an Employment Equity Review Tribunal to resolve contentious issues.

A total of 257 employers have been found to be in compliance with the requirements of the Act since 1998. In 2009, the Commission found 32 employers to be in compliance and 19 employers in non-compliance with the Act. The latter have agreed to undertakings and will be assessed during the year. No Directions were issued.

Portrait of the four designated groups in federally regulated organizations

As per the Employment Equity Act, it is the responsibility of both the President of Treasury Board and the Minister of Labour to monitor the representation levels of the four designated groups covered by the Act. Each year, they must also report, respectively, on the state of employment equity in the public sector and in federally regulated private industries.

Their Annual Reports provide a report card to Canadians on how federally regulated employers are performing in terms of their progress in achieving a workforce that is representative of the country’s diverse population. Their annual reports can be found at:

Labour Program’ Employment Equity Act Annual Reports

Employment Equity in the Public Service of Canada Report; Treasury Board


 

Last Updated: 2010-03-30
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