Equity
Since early in 2020, Food First NL has been working diligently to develop and improve on existing Human Resource policies within our organization.
When we decided to take a good look at our HR policies, we found a lot that needed fixing. So, we spent a large portion of 2020 (pre-pandemic, of course), replacing policies we didn’t need and re-jigging some others to be more equitable, including policies related to payscale, time off, and even working arrangements.
We took a lot of inspiration for this work from FoodShare TO, a food justice organization in Toronto.
It’s important to note that these policies are continuous works-in-progress; the more we learn, the more we plan to evaluate our policies and practices.
What We Did:
Our equity HR work includes a few key points:
A living wage floor: Our current salary model means that no one that works for Food First NL can fall below the living wage for St. John’s (which we chose because we could not obtain provincial information). This rate is currently $18.85 per hour and is annually adjusted for inflation.
Salary ratio cap: The highest allowalbe ratio between the highest paid position and the lowest paid position is now set at 3.0. We’re well inside that ratio now, but this was important to note for future-proofing our pay structure.
Fixed and transparent salary structure: We now have a fixed salary grid, with a starting salary for each type of position that increases in a fixed way over 3 years until they get to the top of the band, then stays put. Everyone at the same level in the organization is in the same band, with the only difference being due to how long they’ve been here.
More flexibility: Food First NL currently operates with a hybrid model, allowing folks office space and the option to work from home. We will likely never go back to a fully in-person model, which allows us to be more equitable in hiring (for example, in the case of someone who cannot travel to an office every day for any number of reasons), while also affording us the opportunity to expand more easily across the province.
Monthly equity learning: Each month, Food First NL staff choose an equity-focused topic that affects our work. We do background reading and have a 2-3 hour meeting where can discuss our thoughts and feelings about the topic, which is usually followed by a brainstorming session to come up with action items to apply what we’ve learned in our day-to-day work.
Recruitment: Now we always post the salary in job ads, make an effort to ensure we recognize all forms of qualifications (not just formal education), and make an effort to engage in targeted hiring.
This process is always ongoing. As we learn more, we’ll do more, and we’ll be looking to our partners and our community to hold us accountable along the way.