Publications by Section

Legislative Review of the Employment Equity Act

5. EDUCATION, PROMOTION AND INFORMATION SHARING

Issues discussed

Earlier in this report, the Commission indicated the need for more aggressive promotion of the employment equity program and its benefits, as well as more detailed education concerning what employers must do to achieve compliance.

To this we would add the establishment of more effective means to ensure lessons learned from the audit process and from employers’ experience with implementing employment equity, including best practices and proven approaches, are shared among employers and practitioners

HRDC consultations, many witnesses appearing before the Committee, and the Commission’s own consultations have identified these areas as crucial requirements to increase compliance and sustain gains achieved.

Mandate

Section 42(1) of the Act makes it clear that HRDC, through the Minister of Labour, is responsible for issuing guidelines for the implementation of employment equity in the workplace, developing and conducting information programs to foster public understanding of employment equity, and promoting the program.

A parallel role on the compliance process had not been envisaged for the Commission. However, it became clear early on in the administration of the Commission’s mandate that employers required substantial information on how compliance would be assessed, how statutory requirements were to be interpreted, and how audits would be conducted.

As evidenced by the Employer Survey, the Commission is considered the top source of information by the majority of employers in this regard, and the information it disseminates is found to be useful by 89% to 100% of employers.

Education and Promotion

It is clear that the role of providing consultative services for private sector employers and Crown corporations in the implementation of employment equity programs in the workplace lies with HRDC. The Department also has an active role to play in fostering public education of the program. Unfortunately, it appears that sufficient resources have not been allocated to this function.

Nowhere is this need more obvious than in helping employers deal with the negative attitudes and behaviours which are still amongst the most pervasive barriers preventing the advancement of designated groups in the workplace. HRDC has developed several tools in this respect. Employers are going to continue requiring assistance to help them deal with this issue more effectively.

A Role for the Commission

While the Commission, as the enforcement body, cannot also be an advice-giving agency, it has been required to play an important role in educating employers, HRDC, TBS, and private sector consultants on its compliance mandate.

Over the last four years, the Commission has averaged approximately 60-80 education sessions, workshops, and presentations per year. This has also included sessions to advocacy groups, unions, and employer-based designated group committees.

Increasing demands are being made on the Commission and it is unlikely that this role will abate. Education will continue to be required on several fronts. Employers who have not yet been audited, including the additional employers identified last year as being subject to the Act, will continue to make demands on the Commission to provide direction as they undertake workforce analysis, employment systems reviews, establish hiring and promotion goals, and develop employment equity plans. The Employer Survey indicates that further work is required in this area.

Similarly, with the Commission commencing its second stage of audits for reasonable progress of those employers in compliance, further education on the Commission’s role and the standards it applies will be necessary.

In addition, as indicated at various points in this report, advocacy groups and organizations providing employment related services to designated group members believe that they have not been well informed about the implementation of the Act. Effective, regular promotion of the Commission’s compliance program and its progress is required.

Information Sharing

As more and more employers move towards the implementation of well structured employment equity initiatives, the amount of information on employment systems barriers, effective remedies, and successful positive policies and special measures will multiply. Best practices that produce tangible results as well as accepted practices that prove ineffective or worse must be well communicated to avoid a constant re-inventing of the proverbial wheel and the resulting inefficient use of limited human resources.

Both HRDC and TBS must have sufficient resources to assist in this process. As well, through the audits, the Commission is in the unique position of receiving and examining considerable information on which measures are most successful and which are not.

To date, the Commission has had neither the mandate nor the resources to gather, assess, and communicate this information outside of the limited resources it has to educate employers on the compliance assessment process. As the program progresses, an effective information sharing strategy will become increasingly important.

Recommendation 16

The Committee should consider clarifying an education role for the Commission under Part II of the Employment Equity Act, separate but complementary to that of HRDC. This would give the Commission a clear mandate by which to seek the necessary resources and pursue critical activities in this regard.

The Committee should encourage HRDC to dedicate additional funds to more effectively carry out its consulting, promotion and education responsibilities.