Pay equity legislation jumps hurdle and heads into second reading

Tuesday, 14 May 2019

Equal pay for work of equal value could be a step closer as the Government gets closer to passing a key piece of employment legislation.

The amendment to the Pay Equity Act, which is expected to pass into law later this year, is aimed at ensuring fair pay for industries where women make up the majority of the workforce.

Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Iain Lees-Galloway said the law changes were about building an inclusive economy.

'Women should not be paid less just because they are working in a female-dominated occupation,' he said.

Telani Esene, left, Kristine Bartlett and Eneata Apineru celebrate their historic pay equity in August, 2018.

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The bill established a bargaining process to raise and progress equity claims, Lees-Galloway said.

A report from the select committee on the amendment was released today, paving the way for the amendment's second reading in Parliament.

Lees-Galloway said the TerraNova court case had demonstrated the difficulty in raising and resolving pay equity claims.

In 2012, rest-home care worker Kristine Bartlett took her employer, TerraNova Homes and Care, to court and won a landmark pay settlement for equal pay.

Bartlett claimed that her $14.46 hourly rate was less than would be paid to men for the same skills, which was a breach of the Equal Pay Act.

Minister for Workplace Relations Iain Lees-Galloway says the amendment will help resolve pay equity claims.

It took three court cases, two appeals and one landmark pay settlement for caregivers to see an across-the-board pay increase.

The minister also committed $1 million to assist the claims process and reduce barriers for people seeking to make a claim as part of a pre-Budget announcement.

But the effectiveness of pay increases have been brought into question.

Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner Dr Saunoamaali'i Karanina Sumeo says pay transparency needed to be part of the amendments to the Equal Pay Act needed to include pay transparency.

In March, research by the Human Rights Commission, NZ Work Research and Careerforce examined the unintended consequences of the pay settlement.

Aged-care workers reported a decline in hours, tensions between occupations, and a mismatch in pay levels to experience after the settlement.

Lees-Galloway pushed back against the aged care providers who dropped hours but at the same time were vocal for access to immigrant workers.

'There were certainly issues with the value of the settlement that the previous government reached,' he said.

'But the age care industry are loud advocates for access to more staff, so there are the hours.'

A number of advocates had also hoped the select committee would recommend the inclusion of wage transparency in the amendment.

Equal Employment Opportunities commissioner Saunoamaali'i Dr Karanina Sumeo said pay transparency was an essential component of pay equity.

'The current bill places the onus on women to raise a pay equity claim with their employer. It fails to recognise the power imbalance between employers and female employees,' she said.

'Pay equity claims are about potential breaches of human rights and women have the right to timely and effective justice.'

However, Lees-Galloway said while transparency was part of the discission, including it in this piece of legislation would have slowed the process down.