Pay-equity laws by mid-year
The Government wants to introduce new laws by mid-year to improve pay equity.
The Joint Working Group on Pay Equity Principles will be reconvened, Workplace Relations Minister Iain LeesGalloway and Minister for Women Julie Anne Genter said yesterday.
The group was set up in 2015 and its recommendations resulted in the Employment (Equal Pay and Pay Equity) Bill.
The bill was introduced by the previous Government after the $2 billion settlement over the TerraNova pay equity claim, but axed by the current Government.
The bill aimed to eliminate sexual discrimination in employment conditions including pay, but had a six-year limit on equal pay claims.
In stopping the bill, LeesGalloway said it diminished the opportunity for other workers to make a claim similar to the TerraNova one.
“The old legislation undermined the original Joint Working Group principles and created unnecessary hurdles for workers raising claims.”
The key issues for the reconvened group will be how to determine the merit of a claim as a pay-equity claim, and how to select appropriate male comparators.
The group will include the Council of Trade Unions, business leaders including Business NZ and the Employers and Manufacturers Association, and Government representatives. It will be facilitated by agri-business leader and company director Traci Houpapa.