Should job-seekers be compensated? A Toronto organization will now pay for interview time

A community organization in Toronto has announced it will now be paying people who come in to interview for jobs, citing the need for preparation and the potential an employee might have to take time off from their current job.

“We recognize that when you prepare for an interview, that is labour. It’s labour we feel employers have been expecting candidates to pay for for a long time and that’s kind of outrageous, especially when you think about in those situations about who has more resources and who has more power,” Paul Taylor, the executive director of FoodShare Toronto, told CityNews in an interview on Tuesday.

“We feel that if employers really want to bring folks on board and really show respect for the candidates that they’re engaging in that conversation, they should be paying for that.”

At the recommendation of Taylor and FoodShare Toronto’s staff, the organization’s board approved the new policy. As of March 1, anyone who gets selected for a job interview will be paid $75 for the hour-long meeting. If a candidate is required to prepare a presentation as part of the interview, they will be paid the position’s hourly rate in order to complete the work.

When asked about the new policy, he said the cost is meant to assist with the cost of potentially taking time off work to attend the interview, paying for child care and preparing for an interview — adding the organization sends the interview questions at least two days ahead.

“From an equity perspective, folks who have already been made vulnerable by systems and public policies this is going to help advantage those folks a little better, at least eliminate and challenge some of the disadvantages by recognizing there are costs,” Taylor said.

He also said FoodShare Toronto has embraced other progressive policies, such as paying a living wage (a minimum of $24 an hour) and instituting a one-to-three ratio when it comes to salaries (meaning the top-paid employee can’t make more than three times the salary of the lowest-paid employee).

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Dr. Tricia Williams, the director of research, evaluation and knowledge mobilization at the Future Skills Centre, told CityNews this type of compensation policy is relatively new when it comes to the hiring process. However, she called the policy “really interesting” and “innovative,” adding she looks forward to hearing more about it in the future.

“It recognizes the value of people’s time and for a long time, hiring practices have tended to rely on the unpaid time of applicants, and employers had a lot more power in determining how long that process was, how many steps were involved in that process and most of the power rested with the employer,” she said.

“I think this is part of a larger shift we’re seeing in the labour market right now where there is more power to applicants and to employees and recognizing the value of the time they’re investing in the process.”

Williams said policies such as the one enacted by FoodShare Toronto makes workplaces more inclusive.

“It’s really about structural change in institutions, and employers, and businesses, and thinking about how our hiring practices, how our training processes, how our upskilling programs are being more inclusive and more open to diverse candidates,” she said.

Dr. Michael Halinski, an assistant professor of organizational behaviour and human resource management at Ryerson University, also echoed that this policy is newer.

He said companies more recently have been focused on employee retention, particularly throughout the course of the pandemic, by increasing the base pay and providing bonuses.

“In the past, more employers and organizations have compensated based on covering expenses but not necessarily paying for time for an interview,” Halinski said.

“In one way it’s a bit of an extension as to what predominantly tech sector organizations have done in the past in terms of trying out or providing probationary periods for employees where they will have employees code or work for the organization for a month or two to make sure that there’s a cultural fit with the individual employee, make sure that they enjoy working at that organization, and the employer makes sure … the individual is delivering as expected to.”

He said some applicants use the interview process to prepare for other future job applications and questioned if the practice of paying for interviews would catch on more widely.

“In one way you’re being paid to practice for your future employment, so I don’t know whether it will catch on in the big picture,” Halinski said.

“However, if it’s really helping organizations get people in the door to be interviewed, why not. If it prevents people from being ghosted during the interview process, then sure why not try it out.”

Meanwhile, Taylor said he hopes his organization’s message is one that resonates with prospective employees.

“This is just the tip of the iceberg. We have worked together as our team to kind of think of what’s possible. Let’s dream in colour,” he said.