Canadian Lawyer InHouse

3 CANADIANLAWYERMAG.COM/INHOUSE MAY 2016 www.canadianlawyermag.com/inhouse Director/Group Publisher: Karen Lorimer karen.lorimer@thomsonreuters.com Editor in Chief: Gail J. Cohen gail.cohen@thomsonreuters.com Editor: Jennifer Brown jen.brown@thomsonreuters.com Staff Writer: Yamri Taddese yamri.taddese@thomsonreuters.com Copy Editor: Patricia Cancilla Art Director: Steve Maver Account Co-ordinator: Sharlane Burgess Advertising Sales Representatives Joseph Galea E-mail: joseph.galea@thomsonreuters.com Steffanie Munroe Tel: (416) 315-5879 E-mail: steffanie.munroe@thomsonreuters.com Kimberlee Pascoe Tel: (416) 649-8875 E-mail: kimberlee.pascoe@thomsonreuters.com Grace So Tel: (416) 609-5838 E-mail: grace.so@thomsonreuters.com Canadian Lawyer InHouse is published 6 times a year by Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd., One Corporate Plaza 2075 Kennedy Rd., Toronto ON. M1T 3V4 (416) 298-5141. Fax : 416-649-7870 Web: www.canadianlawyermag.com/inhouse LinkedIn: www.goo.gl/9tytr Twitter: @CLInHouse Editorial advisory board: Sanjeev Dhawan, Hydro One Networks Inc.; Jonathan Lau, Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario; Fernando Garcia, Nissan Canada; Joe Bradford, Bradford Professional Corp; Dorothy Quann, Xerox Canada. All rights reserved. Contents may not be reprinted without written permission. The opinions expressed in articles are not necessarily those of the publisher. Information presented is compiled from sources believed to be accurate, however, the publisher assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions. Canadian Lawyer InHouse disclaims any warranty as to the accuracy, completeness or currency of the contents of this publication and disclaims all liability in respect of the results of any action taken or not taken in reliance upon information in this publication. Publications Mail Agreement #40766500 ISSN 1921-9563 Copyright © 2016 H.S.T. Registration #R121349799 To subscribe or change addresses Call (416) 649-9585 Fax (416) 649-7870 or e-mail Keith Fulford at keith.fulford@thomsonreuters.com RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESS TO: CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT One Corporate Plaza 2075 Kennedy Rd., Toronto ON. M1T 3V4 By Jennifer Brown Editor's Box SEND YOUR news AND story ideas TO jen.brown@thomsonreuters.com Indexed in the Canadian Periodical Index Why are women earning less? t the national conference of the Canadian Association of Corporate Counsel in April, it was widely touted that 52 per cent of members are now women. It confi rmed what has been known for a while — there is basically a 50/50 split of women and men in the in-house bar. So perhaps it was a particularly bitter pill to swallow when later in the con- ference it was revealed that women in the in-house bar are still earning sig- nifi cantly less than their male counterparts. A new survey from the CCCA and The Counsel Network shows that female in-house counsel are earning 15-per-cent less than their male peers. The average male in-house counsel base salary is currently $178,700. That's $26,700 more than the average female in-house counsel base salary of $152,000. The survey stated that salaries of female in-house counsel tend to be clumped at the lower end of the pay scale. At the low end, fi ve per cent of male in-house counsel earn less than $100,000 compared to 10 per cent of female in-house counsel. At the high end, 26 per cent of male in-house counsel earn more than $200,000 compared to only 15 per cent of female in-house counsel. As the survey stated: "For in-house counsel, the gender wage gap is real and it is not shrinking." Part of the answer is that there is a higher percentage of females in-house in government, Crown corporations, and not-for-profi t organizations where salaries are typically lower than in privately owned and public companies. But it begs the question: What is happening in public companies? We should be beyond the point where one could point to the suggestion that men have been in the workplace longer. In fact, the survey states men have fewer average years as both legal counsel and senior counsel, yet they still earn a higher base salary. When I spoke to Sameera Sereda, managing partner of The Counsel Network, she suggested that, for public companies, the compensation discussion needs to happen at the board level. However, it seems to me there also needs to be advocacy at the in-house level. What are women leaders in-house doing to ensure female colleagues and new hires get paid on par with men? I have written stories about the in-house counsel pay gap several times and I am often mysti- fi ed at how few in-house women lawyers are willing to weigh in on this issue. Last October, the Association of Corporate Counsel came out with a similar survey showing 69 per cent of women earned less than the weighted salary of $200,000, while only 56 per cent of men reported earnings below that level. The ACC Census included responses from more than 5,000 in-house lawyers in 73 countries, including 172 responses from Canada. At the time, Cheryl Foy, general counsel at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology, was one GC who was willing to comment and told me the issue is "complex" with many factors including the "systemic undervaluing of women's work." "A need for fl exibility is often wrongly perceived as a lower degree of commitment or contri- bution," Foy said. Women also often admit they aren't good at negotiating for themselves and that can result in lower compensation. Long-term it can become diffi cult to catch up and lead to a pay equity issue. It appears to be a multi-faceted issue that requires work on both sides and perhaps a larger discussion within the in-house bar. A

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