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Equity

Affirmative action | Pay equity | Accommodation for disability Recognition of diverse families | Discrimination & harassment

Affirmative action

How does YUFA affirmative action work?

Affirmative action principles are to be implemented throughout the hiring process - in advertising, in searches, and in recommendations for appointment.

Affirmative action in YUFA's Collective Agreement works primarily as a 'tie-breaker' amongst qualified and substantially equal candidates:

• In units with at least 40% women, a candidate who is a member of a 'designated group' - a visible / racialised minority group member, an Aboriginal person, or a person with a disability - will be recommended;
• In units with less than 40% women, the top priority is to recommend a woman from a 'designated group', followed by men from such groups or other women;
• If two women from 'designated groups' tie for top rank, and one is a long-serving contract faculty member from CUPE 3903, she'll be the recommended candidate.

Each unit has affirmative action representatives, who must attend a workshop on employment equity and the relevant Collective Agreement provisions. Representatives help to develop affirmative action plans, monitor the hiring process, and report on whether the plan has been followed. Their reports are considered by a joint YUFA-Employer committee, which makes recommendations to the President.

Is there a 'Canadians-first' rule?

Human Resources and Social Development Canada (HRSDC) states that search committees can, from the outset, consider all candidates' applications, regardless of nationality. However, foreign nationals can be hired only if there are no qualified Canadian citizens / permanent residents. That's why advertisements must state, 'All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadian citizens and permanent residents will be given priority.'

The exception is for CLA hirings; owing to NAFTA, citizens of Mexico and the US fall in the same category as Canadian citizens / permanent residents under HRSDC guidelines.

The VP Academic's Office provides documents on HRSDC policy.

How effective has affirmative action been?

Job candidates' sex has been a tie-breaker in new appointments in units with less than 30% women since 1987, with the threshold percentage rising to 40% by 1999. In 2006, 45.3% of YUFA members were women, with 36 of 56 units meeting the 40% threshold, 11 units between 20% and 39.9%, and 9 units (mostly in the Sciences) falling below 20%. The percentages of women among graduate students and undergraduates at York were most recently reported to be 54.8 and 62.1, respectively. (York University FactBook (2005/2006)). In the 2007 CAUT Almanac, YUFA ranked sixth among full-time faculty groups at 70 Canadian universities in its representation of women.

Affirmative action for self-identified Aboriginal persons, members of visible / racialised minority groups, and persons with disabilities was not implemented until the 1999-2003 Collective Agreement. In 2000, the Centre for Human Rights and Equity reported that 0.4% of YUFA members self-identified as Aboriginal, 10.3% as members of visible / racialised minority groups, and 7.8% as persons with disabilities.

Management hasn't provided general membership statistics lately, but we can at least compare the Centre's results for CLA and probationary tenure-stream members in 2000 to the VP Academic's annual reports about new appointees since 2000. The table below shows remarkably little change in hirings of Aboriginal faculty and faculty from visible minority groups and a decline in hiring of persons with disabilities.

One interpretation is that, overall, whatever improvement there has been in hiring of Aboriginal faculty and faculty from visible minority groups, it began by the late 90s; additional improvements prompted by the new affirmative action clauses of 1999-2003 have yet to be seen. Given these new clauses, the apparent decline in hiring for persons with disabilities is also disturbing.

Meanwhile, in the 2001 Census, Aboriginal persons comprised 3.3% of the population of Canada and 0.4% of the Toronto Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) population. Members of visible minority groups comprised 13.4% of the population of Canada and 36.8% of the Toronto CMA population. Recent statistics about persons with disabilities proved elusive.

Is diversity recognized in any way in the T&P process?

The T&P procedures include the following principle: 

In keeping with the University's commitment to foster a climate of respect for equity and diversity, standards for tenure & promotion must recognise research and professional contributions in an equitable way. This includes acknowledging diverse career paths, traditions, and values, ways of knowing and forms of communicating knowledge. 

File Preparation Committees are especially enjoined to present diverse career paths fairly and effectively.

Pay equity

What has YUFA done to obtain equitable pay for women?

Some 60% of the raises negotiated for YUFA members from 1996-2001 were used to address 'pay equity' and 'salary adjustment' issues. 'Pay equity' gave women faculty $1.1 million to reduce the gap between them and male faculty of comparable age and professional experience. 'Salary adjustment' poured about $4.1 million into raises for women and men based primarily on professional experience, but also on how the salary freeze of 1993-95 affected lifetime earnings.

YUFA's efforts to secure equitable pay for women faculty continue in three ways:

1. Recapture agreement - As women faculty who received pay equity raises retire or leave York, their raises are redistributed among remaining women who were eligible. The last distribution occurred in Fall 2007.
2. Librarians' pay equity review - Every three years, all librarians' salaries are reviewed to determine whether they still comply with the librarian pay equity settlement. If not, individual librarians receive additional raises. (Unlike faculty, librarians qualified as a 'female job class' under the Pay Equity Act.)
3. Employment Standards grievances - Several women faculty filed grievances under the Employment Standards Act 'equal pay for equal work' provisions, alleging that they were inequitably paid relative to male comparators. These grievances are currently in process.

How different are men's and women's salaries now? 

In 1996/97, women's median salaries were substantially behind men's. The gaps were worst for women over 50 years of age, and as much as $14,400 for the oldest group of YUFA members.

By 2000/01, although women's salaries still lagged behind men's, the gap became much smaller. In part, this was because most of the worst-paid women faculty - the oldest group - had retired, with life-long lower pensions. In part, it was because the pay equity raises had been effective. In fact, women in the 45-49 age group were making somewhat more than men.

The 2006/07 data show that the gaps have continued to shrink for women who are 50 to 59. However, for most groups of younger women, the gaps are widening, troublingly becoming more similar to those of ten years past.

For more detail, see Trends in YUFA median salaries for males and females in 1996/97 - 2006/07, by age group.

Accommodation for disability

Am I eligible for accommodation for my disability?

Yes, according to the Ontario Human Rights Code, if you:

• meet the definition of 'disability'; and
• the disability prevents you from performing the 'essential requirements' of your job without accommodation.

The Code defines a 'disability' as having, having had, or being believed to have / have had:

• any degree of physical disability, infirmity, malformation or disfigurement that is caused by bodily injury, birth defect or illness and, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, including diabetes mellitus, epilepsy, a brain injury, any degree of paralysis, amputation, lack of physical coordination, blindness or visual impediment, deafness or hearing impediment, muteness or speech impediment, or physical reliance on a guide dog or other animal or on a wheelchair or other remedial appliance or device,
• a condition of mental impairment or a developmental disability,
• a learning disability, or a dysfunction in one or more of the processes involved in understanding or using symbols or spoken language,
• a mental disorder, or
• an injury or disability for which benefits were claimed or received under the insurance plan established under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997.

An Employer's failure to accommodate a person with a disability is defined under the Code as discrimination based on disability.

How do I arrange accommodation?

Contact your Dean / Principal / University Librarian; it's then their role to facilitate contact between the Employee Well-Being Office (EWO) and you. Together, the EWO, your Dean / Principal / University Librarian and you consult confidentially to identify the most appropriate form of accommodation that meets your needs, as set forth in the Employee Accommodation Process, recently negotiated between YUFA and the Employer, available from York Human Resources.

Contact YUFA if you anticipate or experience obstacles. YUFA is often involved in this process - at your request - especially if the accommodation changes your job responsibilities.

If you're requesting that your Dean / Principal / University Librarian provide a workplace accommodation (e.g., specific equipment / furniture or other supports) and you're in a unit with a Chair / Head, then copy your request to that individual too.

Whose responsibility is it to pay for accommodation?

It's the Employer's ... so no one should tell you to fund your own accommodation using your PER or fob you off by complaining about your unit's budget!

The Ontario Human Rights Commission specifies that employers are obliged to provide forms of accommodation that allow employees to perform the essential responsibilities of their positions, with respect for dignity, individualisation (i.e., each person much be considered, assessed, and accommodated individually), integration and full participation (requiring barrier-free and inclusive design and removal of existing barriers). See the Commission's Policy & Guidelines on Disability and the Duty to Accommodate.

The Commission states that employers must satisfy these principles to the point of 'undue hardship.' This means that the only grounds considered for discriminating are: costs so great that they would alter the fundamental nature of the enterprise, lack of outside funding sources to alleviate costs, and countervailing health & safety requirements. Employers can't plead inconvenience or effects on employee morale; the burden to prove that there's 'undue hardship' is theirs.

The Employer may recommend a form of accommodation that wouldn't be your first choice. If it would allow you to complete the essential duties of your job without pain or further damage to your health or dignity, you're obligated to work with it. The Employer is obligated, however, to reassess the situation should you provide new information about your needs.

Can I return to work gradually after being on LTD?

Yes, if your physician supports it, you can arrange this through the Employee Accommodation Process. Contact with your Dean / Principal / University Librarian throughout your LTD will help toward planning for your return.

How do I obtain campus medical parking?

The Employer must provide parking that is 'satisfactorily proximate to the offices of faculty / librarians who are physically challenged'. Contact York Parking Services for information; note that they'll require a current Ontario Accessible Parking Permit.

Recognition of diverse families

How is 'spouse' defined for pension and benefits?

For pensions, an 'eligible spouse' is a person of the same or opposite sex, living with you at the time of pension commencement, and who is: 

• legally married to you, or 
• living with you in a conjugal relationship continuously for at least 3 years, or 
• living with you in a conjugal relationship of some permanence wherein you are the natural or adoptive parents of a child.

For benefits, 'spouse' includes an individual of the same or opposite sex with whom you've been living for at least one year.

Who is eligible for parenting leaves?

The Collective Agreement recognises a wide array of parenting arrangements. You're eligible if you or your partner:

• give birth to a child, or
• adopt a child, or
• come into care, custody, and control of a child under 12.

Besides leaves for new parents, what clauses could provide me with time for care-giving responsibilities?

For circumstances such as bereavement, emergencies, and extraordinary elder or child care, you can request a short-term leave of up to one month. Arrange such leaves with your Dean / Principal / University Librarian. For emergencies of a week or less, short-term leaves can be arranged with your Chair. If you have a gravely ill family member, you may want to find out about the Employment Insurance 'compassionate care' benefits.

For other useful clauses, click here.

Discrimination & harassment

How does the contract define discrimination?

In law, discrimination is the infringement of the right to equal treatment, i.e., the right to be subject to the same requirements, qualifications, and considerations, regardless of race, ancestry, place of origin, colour, ethnic origin, citizenship, creed, sex, sexual orientation, age, marital status, same-sex partnership status, family status, or disability. 

The Collective Agreement bars discrimination based on several additional grounds, including number of dependants, political affiliation or beliefs, previous or impending exclusion from the bargaining unit, and non-conforming personal behaviour (excluding failure to fulfil job responsibilities).

Besides prohibiting discrimination on these grounds, the Agreement specifically reiterates YUFA's and the Employer's commitments to non-discrimination in hiring, T&P considerations and other assessments of colleagues, and merit pay decisions.

What is harassment?

Harassment is 'engaging in a course of vexatious comment or conduct that is known or ought reasonably to be known to be unwelcome' (Ontario Human Rights Code).

The Collective Agreement provides some examples:

• offensive words or actions by a person(s) who knows or ought reasonably to know that such words or actions demean, belittle and / or cause humiliation to an individual(s) on the basis of a prohibited ground;
• unwanted attention of a sexually-oriented nature made by a person(s) who knows or ought reasonably to know that such attention is unwanted;
• clearly expressed or implied promises of reward for complying with sexually-oriented requests or advances;
• clearly expressed or implied threats of reprisal, actual reprisals, or the denial of an opportunity which would otherwise be granted or available, for refusal to comply with a sexually-oriented request or advance.

What can I do if I've been harassed or discriminated against?

According to York's Centre for Human Rights, in 2005/06, 137 complaints involved faculty members. Disability issues were the most common type of complaint to the Centre.

If you've been harassed or discriminated against, you can use the grievance procedure, file a complaint with the Centre for Human Rights in accordance with Appendix Q, or do both.

You also have a right to file a complaint with the Ontario Human Rights Commission, which usually requires that complainants first avail themselves of the dispute resolution mechanism in their collective agreements.

What procedures can I expect to see followed if I'm the respondent in a harassment or discrimination complaint?

The Procedure for Dealing with Complaint of Harassment or Discrimination found in Appendix Q provides due process for complainants and respondents and sets reasonable timelines for resolutions. If these procedures aren't followed, YUFA can grieve on your behalf.

More info?

• Your Collective Agreement, Articles 3 (non-discrimination), 12 (appointments), 13 (tenure & promotions) and Tenure & Promotions Policy, Criteria & Promotions, and clauses 18.40-18.41 (accommodation), 19.01-19.02 & 19.08-19.12 (leaves), 25.13 (pay equity), and Appendices E (pay equity) and Q (harassment & discrimination complaints)

Version: August 2007