McCarthy Tétrault has been taking steps to advance gender inclusion and the representation of women at our Firm for many years. Diversity more broadly is a lens we bring to bear on all of our people policies and processes. We are very much alive to the potential of unintentional workplace bias, as well as societal norms around caregiving that continue to disproportionately impact women’s advancement in the labour force.

McCarthy Tétrault conducts an annual comprehensive analysis of compensation equity and has done so since 2016. We are committed to pay equity and we strive to ensure all of our people receive equal pay for work of equal value. Our robust gender equity analysis has been an integral component of all of our legal talent management decisions, including hiring of students, associates and lateral lawyers, associate bonuses, partner admissions, and partner compensation. All of these talent decisions are analysed by gender at multiple points in the process, along multiple dimensions.

These processes, led by our National People and Practice Leader Barb Boake, with the support of our Chief Inclusion Officer Charlene Theodore, are designed to advance equity during each stage of the decision-making process, and in the final result. Every effort is made to ensure decision making committees are gender-balanced. We measure and report gender outcomes on hiring, partner admissions and partner compensation to our Board of Partners. Our gender outcomes with respect to associate bonuses are reported to our CEO. Because we are committed to equity for all underrepresented groups, we are currently developing the capacity to gather demographic data in-house, which will allow us to expand this analysis to include other demographic factors, such as race.                

In addition to conducting an equity/gender analysis of all key talent management processes and decisions, below are just some of the many additional policies and programs we have in place to eliminate structural barriers to equity:

• Partner Compensation Transparency: We have an open system in that the compensation of all equity partners is shared with all equity partners. Partner compensation is also analysed rigorously by gender, and the outcome of the analysis by gender is reported to our Board of Partners and our Partnership.
• Equal pay for associates: Associate salaries are lock-step by year of call according to transparent salary grids.  Our parental leave policy means associates do not fall behind on the grid by virtue of taking one or more parental leaves of up to 12 months in aggregate. Bonuses are contribution-based and associates are rewarded equitably for contributions of similar value.  Contribution is measured according to transparent criteria and takes into account financial and non-financial performance such as firm-building and pro bono work. Time spent winding down for a parental leave and ramping up after a leave are also taken into account in assessing contribution.
• Objective work allocation programs: Processes for central distribution of associate work opportunities in most of our largest practice groups are designed to disrupt potential bias against equity-deserving groups;
• Unconscious Bias: For many years now, senior leaders and members of our legal recruitment team have been required to participate in unconscious bias education. In 2019, all of our senior people leaders participated in a full-day program on unconscious bias and inclusive leadership. We are in the process of rolling out bias-awareness education for all of our people, both lawyers and staff.

While we are proud of the steps we have taken to advance equity at our Firm, we know more work needs to be done. This is why, in 2018, we launched our industry-leading diversity and inclusion program, Inclusion Now. As part of this platform, we continue to take steps to prioritise the advancement of equity-seeking groups and address structural and cultural barriers to inclusion.