Put the Salary in the Job Posting

How many times have you scrolled through Indeed or LinkedIn looking for a new job and found a role that seemed great, but under “Compensation,” rather than providing a specific dollar amount, the ad only says, “Competitive Salary”?

By Aren Plante, Representative

Hidden salaries are one of the most common complaints from job seekers. This frustration is so commonly felt that there are even memes about it.

But salary mysteries may soon be coming to an end in Ontario. The provincial government is proposing a law that will require employers to disclose salary ranges in all job postings. Salary transparency is important for all workers since the more information they have, the more informed decisions they can make about their career searches.

Salary transparency in healthcare is especially needed as the majority of healthcare workers are female and thus often experience a major pay gap between men and woman. Women in Ontario earn an average of 87 cents for every dollar earned by men—a number that is worse for women of colour and Indigenous women.

The majority of healthcare workers are covered by a collective agreement and thus their wages are publicly accessible. But for nonunion management employees, their wages are totally secret.

Simply take a look at the job postings of major employers such as Chartwell or Revera and you will see no salary ranges. But by being able to see the ranges for manager positions, CLAC can demonstrate what we have long assumed: there is a huge disparity between the wages of management staff and front-line workers.