In his latest research with recent Sociology alumni Jennifer Vincent, Prof. Neil Guppy aims to trace the largely unrecognized role of the judicial system in Canada’s move away from an “equal pay for equal work” standard to the UN 1951 convention “equal pay for work of equal value”, with legal action in Ontario and Quebec especially leading to significant change.
Dr. Neil Guppy
Furthermore, the article explores the social organization of public opinion through these changes, as standards once again shifted from the UN standard of “equal pay for work of equal value” towards a new wave of pay equity laws favoring proactive pay transparency. In this analysis, the use of public opinion data allowed Guppy and Vincent to speculate on the possible impediment to legislative reforms posed by the factional polarization of policy processes, beyond just pay equity reforms.
