Some jobs just seem to attract more workers of one gender than another. These patterns have more to do with long-standing biases about which industries and occupations are better suited to men or women than actual gender-based differences in knowledge, abilities, or career interests.

In trucking and logistics, men make up 85% of the workforce. The ratio of women to men drops even further in certain jobs such as truck driver (3% female) or technicians and mechanics (1.5% female).

In contrast, women account for 87% of general administrative workers, 85% of accounting staff, and 61% of HR staff.

These numbers are consistent across the industry: similar data show up on virtually every trucking association’s website around the world!

Is it the job or the industry?

Why does this gender imbalance exist?

Is it the reputation of the industry as being a male domain? Or that certain jobs are perceived as being inherently oriented toward men?

Our labour market information suggests that it may be both.

On one hand, the percentage of female mechanics working across all sectors of the economy is roughly the same as it is in trucking and logistics: 2%, compared with 1.5%. Perhaps the job just doesn’t appeal to women.

On the other hand, more that 50% of dispatchers in Canada are women compared to only 39% in trucking and logistics, suggesting that the industry is an issue.

THRC’s research, “Millennials Have Drive 2,” found that women make up about one third of the 1.1 million warm leads who say they might consider a job in trucking.

That’s more than 360,000 young women.

Where we are today

What do we know about women who already work in trucking?

Right now, about 97,000 women are working in Canada’s trucking and logistics industry and more than half are doing front-line jobs in shipping and receiving (21%); driving a truck (10%); driving for a local delivery or courier service (8%); dispatching (6%); or material handling (5%).

Another 21% of women in trucking work in administration, accounting, and human resources.

Fewer than 5% of the sector’s female employees are in management or supervisory positions. This small fraction in senior leadership no doubt contributes to the industry’s problems recruiting and retaining women.

Finding equilibrium

Highlighting the experiences and variety of career choices of women who already work in trucking and logistics could help companies appeal to more female leads.

And tapping into their workplace experiences would help us all better understand and address the gender-based challenges and barriers in our workforce. We must:

– Determine if the challenges our industry faces in attracting and retaining women are the same or different than those in other male-dominated industries.

– Study and learn from more gender-balanced sectors.

– Create a more balanced culture that appeals to diverse groups of people.

– Set clear, achievable, and measurable targets and KPIs for achieving a more gender balanced workforce in trucking and logistics.

With our industry facing severe labour shortages on average, trucking and logistics has about 7,300 vacant jobs annually women represent a vastly underutilized source of workers. The industry’s gender imbalance is a complex issue but one that requires us to think about the most appropriate strategies to get it right.

New Anti-Harassment and Violence Obligations for Federally Regulated Fleets

July 7, 2020 by Marisha Tardif

Many fleets in our employer community have been following developments surrounding Bill C-65 ? a piece of federal legislation that amends the Canada Labour Code by introducing new guidelines on how harassment and violence can be prevented in the workplace, and how to address it if and when it occurs. While Bill C-65 received Royal Assent in 2018, specifics surrounding employer obligations and compliance timelines remained to be confirmed. But as per recent updates, there is now new information surrounding detailed requirements that federally regulated employers will have to meet.

On June 24, 2020, the federal government published the?Work Place Harassment and Violence Prevention Regulations. The new framework will apply to the federally regulated private sector as of January 1st, 2021. Transportation companies that provide international and interprovincial services are regulated by the federal government and are therefore subject to these updates.

New rules will thus soon come into effect that will increase employers? responsibilities in matters of workplace health and safety. The new Regulations set a framework of obligations centered on three elements: the prevention of workplace harassment and violence, the delivery of a timely and effective response to incidents, and the provision of support for affected employees. Based on these three pillars, the new Regulations bring changes in the following main areas:

• Workplace harassment and violence prevention policy
  • Employers will be required to make available a workplace harassment and violence prevention policy that aligns with new Regulatory requirements.
• Workplace assessments
  • Employers will have to conduct assessments that identify risks of harassment and violence in the workplace and implement preventative measures to protect the workplace from these risks.
• Emergency procedures
  • Employers will be required to develop emergency procedures to be followed in situations where an occurrence of harassment and violence poses and immediate danger to the health and safety of an employee(s).

• Training
  • Employers will be required to identify and develop harassment and violence training and ensure it is delivered to all members of the organization, including to employers themselves but also to employees, and to the designated recipient of harassment and violence complaints in the workplace. Training will need to align to specific guidelines proposed under the Regulations, and will be delivered once every three years, including in the onboarding of new employees.
• Support measures
  • Employers will be required to make information available regarding support services that employees may access should they experience an incident of workplace harassment and violence.

• Resolution process
  • Employers will be required to respond to every notification of an occurrence of harassment and violence in their workplace, but also to structure their response around a more detailed web of specific requirements (including prescribed timelines, processes, and procedures).
• Records and reports
  • Employers will be required to keep records relating to harassment and violence in their workplace. They will also be required to submit annual reports to the Minister, as well as report on any fatalities that occur as a result of workplace harassment and violence.

It is clear from the above that the new Regulations will require major adjustments to policies, programs, and processes for many employers. Given new requirements, it is important for both employers and employees to understand the nature of these changes and how it will impact them and their workplace.

Trucking HR Canada is committed to providing trucking sector-specific resources to support the needs of the industry in adapting to these new changes. Central amongst these tools will be a bilingual suite of online and in-person training modules for employers, employees, and designated recipients of workplace harassment and violence complaints. Pamphlets that clarify employer and employee rights and obligations will also be made available, in addition to other forthcoming resources centered on best practices in workplace anti-harassment and violence. These supports will be made available in time for the January 2021 entry into force of the Regulations ? follow our website and social media channels to find out more.

Modernizing your workforce starts with modernizing your HR approach.

In today’s labour market, successful truck fleets and logistics companies know that staying abreast of the issues will help them stay ahead of the competition. Follow Trucking HR Canada’s 10 part “Modernizing Your HR Approach” blog series as we navigate emerging trends and share tips for finding, hiring, and retaining the talent you need.

Miguel Mangalindan is a Senior Associate Lawyer at Monkhouse Law where he practices Employment, Human Rights and Disability Insurance Law. He was a panelist at Trucking HR Canada’s Mental Health symposium last October, and recently participated as one of the Learning Highway session presenters at Women with Drive, sharing insights on how Bill C-86 will impact you. This week, we invited him to again share his expertise with us through our Blog Series.

On December 13, 2018, the federal government’s Bill C-86, which among other things establishes a new Pay Equity Act, received royal assent. The Act will require federally regulated employers to make sure that employees in female-dominated jobs receive the same level of compensation as those in male-dominated jobs of similar effort, responsibility, skill, and working conditions.

In short, it aims to ensure equal pay for work of equal value.

Who has to comply?

The Pay Equity Act applies to federal workplaces with 10 or more employees. This includes public services; Crown agencies and private companies that operate a federal work, undertaking, or business; and any employer with more than $1 million in federal government contracts.

Employers will have three years to establish a pay equity plan once the Act comes into force, and have to review and update their plan at least once every five years. Different deadlines apply to provincially regulated employers that become subject to the Act due to becoming federally regulated after the Act comes into force.

What is a Pay Equity Plan?

According to the Act, a pay equity plan must do the following:

• Indicate the number of employees and job classes within the workplace;
• Indicate what gender is predominant in each class;
• Evaluate the value of work performed by each job class;
• Identify the compensation associated with each job class and compare female- and male-predominant job classes of similar value;
• Set out the results of the comparison, identifying which female-predominant job classes require an increase in compensation and when those increases are due; and
• Provide information on the dispute-resolution procedure available to employees.

How do you put this plan into action?

In terms of process requirements, there must be a committee that creates the pay equity plan, notice of the plan to all employees, and then implementation. The employer must also maintain pay equity after the initial plan and payouts are made.

The Act specifies the members of the pay equity committee as well as the contents of the plan. It also sets out a formula for how to compare male and female jobs. There are rights of appeal to a new federal Pay Equity Commission that will be part of the Canadian Human Rights Commission.

The federal government has yet to proclaim a date when the Act will come into force but there will be some grace period allowed for implementation.

In the meantime, federally regulated employers should start reviewing their compensation systems and begin the process of planning and implementing pay equity, which will take lots of time, expertise, and resources to do.

“Modernizing your workforce starts with modernizing your HR approach.”

In today’s labour market, successful truck fleets and logistics companies know that staying abreast of the issues will help them stay ahead of the competition. Follow our “Modernizing Your HR Approach” blog series as we navigate emerging trends and share tips for finding, hiring, and retaining the talent you need.

As the world becomes more interconnected, we can learn a lot from other economies and cultures about how to solve our own issues in the Canadian trucking and logistics industry. One of those issues is the inclusion of women and how to improve the diversity of our industry overall.

What can we learn from others and what can we share?

On April 23, Trucking HR Canada was invited to speak at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Women in Transportation Roundtable in Vancouver. APEC brings together leaders, ministers, senior officials and business representatives, who meet regularly to drive the APEC agenda forward and implement policies and projects across a wide range of issues. Since 2015, the U.S. Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of State, and the U.S. Agency for International Development have worked together to implement the APEC Women in Transportation (WIT) Initiative, seeing value in this solution to labour shortages.

For me, the roundtable demonstrated just how important it is to collaborate with people from different economies and sectors who have taken on similar challenges. Here’s what we learned:

A diverse workforce is a more successful workforce

Gender equity in the workplace is no longer just an equality issue, it’s an economic one. When women do better, everyone wins.

Progress takes time

“At the current rate of progress, it will take 200 years to close the gender gap,” said Thao Pham, Associate Deputy Minister at Transport Canada, during her opening remarks at the roundtable. She’s referring to a study from CCPA Research Associate Kate McInturff that looks at Canada’s progress in closing the gap between men and women over the past two decades. Despite high-profile initiatives to increase the representation of women in politics and on corporate boards, Canada’s overall score has climbed just 2.3% in two decades.

If we want to see gender equity in our lifetime, we are going to have to make some dramatic changes. But how?

Mentorship programs work

In a study by the Wharton School of Business, 25% of employees who took part in their company’s mentoring program have experienced a salary increase compared to just 5% of non-participants. Mentors were six times more likely to be promoted than those not in the program; mentees were promoted five times more often.

Trucking HR Canada’s “Industry Youth” surveys show that the majority of young people want more mentoring and coaching in the workplace, and our “Women with Drive” surveys have two in three respondents citing mentorship as a tool that would support them professionally.

Key takeaway: Implement that mentorship program you’ve been thinking about.

Include women at every level

Gender equality is more likely to be achieved when women are involved with planning, hiring, training, and mentorship at every level of a company.

In the panel moderated by Trucking HR Canada’s CEO, Angela Splinter, we learned why it’s important to make a conscious effort to include women in surveys and data collection. It is also key to be aware of biases within the data based on women’s previous participation in the data.

The insightful panelists who spoke included: David Chien, Executive Director, Office of Policy and Plans, U.S. Federal Aviation Administration; Lori Summer, U.S. National Highway Transportation Safety Administration; Dr. Stephanie Ivey, University of Memphis; and Kelly Clifton, Portland State University.

I am hopeful that, moving forward, these collaborative approaches across economies and sectors will help everyone recognize opportunities for gender equity in our industry and in our country in my lifetime. We’ll continue to share ideas, but it’s also time for action.

The numbers don’t lie. The representation of women in the trucking and logistics industry remains well below their representation in Canada’s workforce as a whole.

Just 3% of truck drivers are women. 11% of the industry’s administrators are women. 18% of dispatchers are women.

With women comprising 48% of Canada’s labor force, clearly we need to up our game.

If these numbers aren’t enough to convince you, I’ve got more.

We recently surveyed 2,000 millennials across Canada to gauge their perceptions of the industry and whether they’d consider it for their profession. The good news is that there is a cohort interested in working in trucking. The not-so-good? Half of those interested think trucking is a job “for men only.”

We need to do a better of job of communicating that the trucking and logistics industry offers numerous career opportunities for women. We cannot afford to overlook close to half the potential workforce when there is such an urgent need for drivers, dispatchers, managers, and more diversity in our workforce.

For this kind of change to happen, we need to take a good look at our workplace practices, policies, and approaches to recruiting, training, and retention.

We need managers to lead by example. We need inclusive workplaces. We need women to see the economic opportunities we offer. We need to ensure we retain women by offering networking and mentorship opportunities. We need to invest in their professional development. We need to ensure we provide safe and respectful work environments.

We need to do more.

This year will mark the 5th anniversary of our Women with Drive leadership summit. Inspired by our theme of “driving towards a modern workforce,” we have a lineup of speakers that will motivate and educate.

Rona Ambrose, the former leader of Canada’s Official Opposition in the House of Commons, and the former leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, will open the day, followed by a female-led discussion on the impact of new technologies in the industry. David Coletto from Abacus data will share even more insights on that millennial research I keep talking about. And, to ensure that everyone leaves with practical ideas, our new learning highway will provide a series of speed-learning opportunities including an employment lawyer discussing workplace policies; the Women Building Futures driver training program; Labour Canada talking about upcoming Canada Labour Code changes; the Ontario Trucking Association’s “Next Gen” program; best practices from our own Top Fleet Employers; workplace wellness strategies; and more.

At a time when the industry is struggling to attract, recruit, and retain the next generation of Canadian workers, we need to ensure we get the message out that trucking and logistics welcomes everyone.

We all need to be a part of this important conversation, and you can have your say by joining us for Women with Drive on March 7th at the Sheraton Toronto Airport Convention Centre. To learn more, visit: https://truckinghr.com/WWD19.

With research showing the need for as many as 48,000 drivers by 2024, the driver shortage is currently the top of mind for everyone in Canada’s trucking and logistics industry. But our industry and our country are not the only ones feeling this pressure.

On October 14, 2018, Trucking HR Canada was invited to speak at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Women in Transportation Roundtable in Lima, Peru. The goal of the roundtable was to build on the 2015 APEC Women in Transportation Data Framework and Best Practices report (linked here), review the efforts of three pilot projects conducted over the past three years in Viet Nam, Malaysia, and Papua New Guinea, and discuss opportunities and efforts to advance women’s employment in the sector.

Since 2015, the U.S. Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of State, and the U.S. Agency for International Development have worked together to implement the APEC Women in Transportation (WIT) Initiative, seeing value in this solution to labour shortages.

For me, the roundtable provided an opportunity to learn just how other economies and sectors have been dealing with labour shortages through one similar method: the inclusion of women.

The first session of the day provided a background on the three pilot programs that have been conducted throughout the lifetime of the three-year initiative. The first pilot program, taking place in Papua New Guinea, focused on the education pillar (one of the five pillars of the WiT data framework) looking at educating girls and women to prepare them for transportation careers. The second pilot program dealt with barriers to entry in the sector in Viet Nam, and the third on fostering leadership opportunities for women in the sector in Malaysia.

These three very different approaches in three different economies provided important insight into answering the question: What’s Next for Women in Transportation?

One thing I learned through this roundtable was that different economies will have to answer this question in different ways based on their largest barriers to inclusion. For some, societal norms put a lot of pressure on women to stay home and care for their children, for others there are almost no female role models in the sector to look up to, and for some, including Canada, it comes down to women’s perception of the transportation sector.

As much progress as we have made, it is essential to the future success of our industry that we do more.

One of the biggest lessons I learned through this experience is that events like APEC are important to this progress. They put the issue front and center; promote the sharing of ideas, experiences, and leadership practices; and give us better tools and richer perspectives. These events also show that conversation can and does inspire action, including the development of expanded support networks that are critical to sustained success.

We have lots to learn from the experience of our international friends, but we can also learn by sharing our own experiences within the Canadian trucking and logistics sector.

The Women with Drive Leadership Summit provides an opportunity to do just that. The event looks to share best practices, educate attendees, foster mentorship, promote networking, and more, all to further the inclusion of women in the industry overall.

To learn more about various efforts supporting the inclusion of women in the trucking and logistics industry, join us for the Women with Drive Leadership Summit on March 7, 2019, in Toronto as we continue the conversation on what’s next for women in transportation.

See you there!