Ontario to consult on banning NDAs in cases of workplace harassment, misconduct

Ontario employers could soon be required to include salary ranges in job postings under new legislation announced Monday, while the province is also considering curtailing the use of workplace non-disclosure agreements.

Mandating salary ranges in job postings as well as requiring businesses to disclose if artificial intelligence is part of their hiring process will be part of a bill Labour Minister David Piccini is set to soon table.

"It's an unacceptable reality that women today in Ontario earn an average of 87 cents for every dollar earned by men," Piccini said at a news conference.

"Including salary ranges with job postings can help close the gender pay gap, while allowing companies to find qualified candidates faster and improve retention, helping tackle the labour shortage."

Jill Andrew, the NDP critic for women's social and economic opportunity, said Monday's announcement is good, but a half measure.

"While we are glad to see the minister finally take a small step towards acknowledging the importance of salary transparency, there needs to be measures for enforcement, reporting, and tracking of wage gaps to make sure it is effective in meeting our collective goals to pay equity," she wrote in a statement.

Shortly after the Progressive Conservatives formed government in 2018 they paused implementation of a law from the previous Liberal government that would have required all publicly advertised job postings to include a salary rate or range, barred employers from asking about past compensation, prohibited reprisal against employees who discuss compensation and required large employers to track and report compensation gaps.

Piccini's new legislation -- he recently took over the file after Monte McNaughton resigned and left government -- also proposes to require employers to inform job seekers when they are using AI to inform hiring decisions.

"For a worker who applies today to an online ad, within seconds of hitting send on that resume a recruiter's AI system can choose them as a preferred candidate and screen out thousands of other applicants," he said.

"AI systems are able to tell age, sex, race, religion, political affiliation and can even evaluate your social media accounts to see if someone's personal traits would be a good fit for a company's culture. Moreover, experts have very legitimate concerns over data collection and personal privacy."

Piccini also announced Monday that the province is considering banning the use of non-disclosure agreements in cases of workplace sexual harassment, misconduct or violence.

"We want to hear from Ontarians and (our) consultations will work with the legal community, survivors, employers to identify those options to restrict the use of NDAs while protecting the rights of victims," Piccini said in an interview.

"NDAs should never be used to silence victims, and those who've done that, their time's up."

The government said seven in 10 workers have reported experiencing a form of harassment or violence in their workplace, with the rates even higher for women and gender-diverse people.

Ontario has previously banned the use of NDAs in sexual misconduct cases among post-secondary employees who are looking for work at a different institution.

Members of the Canadian Bar Association voted in favour of discouraging the use of non-disclosure agreements in cases of abuse and harassment.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2023.