Unequal pay big concern

Survey findings have prompted fresh calls to end remuneration ‘secrecy’ in NZ

Almost half of New Zealanders say they’ve been paid less for doing the exact same job as another person, but most didn’t complain to their boss because they didn’t think it would help.

According to a new survey women, younger workers and those earning between $40,000 to $80,000 were more likely to experience unequal pay — usually finding out they were being underpaid from a colleague, not their boss.

Employees said sometimes the discrepancy was because of their skill level — but age, gender and ethnicity were also believed to be key drivers of pay gaps.

The survey findings, in new Human Rights Commission research, have prompted fresh calls to end remuneration “secrecy” in New Zealand, by passing new transparency laws that would bring us in line with other similar nations.

“Particularly now, with lots of people feeling quite vulnerable, and thinking they should just say ‘yes’ to any work because of Covid and the power dynamic is swayed, we need to legislate change,” said Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner Saunoamaali’i Karanina Sumeo. “We’ve had the Equal Pay Act since 1972. But still we have problems because the individual is left to fight on their own — and it’s gone beyond gender, there’s huge ethnic inequality too.”

Sumeo has been at the forefront of a campaign calling for pay transparency in New Zealand, which would see companies required to either report to an equity agency; forced to make their gender and ethnic pay data public; or available in bands to employees. She and other campaigners, such as unions and

women’s groups, were hopeful pay transparency provisions would be included in the Equal Pay Amendment Bill making its way through Parliament.

The bill adds to the Equal Pay Act, which says it’s unlawful to discriminate based on gender, by ensuring fair pay for industries where women make up the majority of the work

force. However, despite lobbying, pay transparency provisions were not included. At the time, Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Iain Lees-Galloway said it would have “slowed the process down”.

Campaigners say without transparency, the gender pay gap (now at 9.3 per cent) or the ethnic gap (the pay gap for Maori women is 20 per cent) cannot be closed. Nancy McShane, a PSA delegate and convenor of the union’s women’s network, said knowing what others in a similar role to you were earning was vital for workers in negotiating.

“I think without pay transparency it is sort of like fighting fog — there’s something blocking the truth of what’s going on. With a great deal of effort, it is possible to find information to back up your argument, but I think if we had pay transparency in place then it is a much easier process.”

McShane, a hospital administrator in Christchurch, said it was an issue that had been fought for over a number of years — Kate Sheppard was calling for gender pay equity at the same time she was calling for women to get the vote.

“And it’s not just women who are being ripped off, it’s actually families,” McShane said. “It’s now, it’s future generations.”

The research, the first of its kind in New Zealand, spoke directly to McShane’s point, with the more than 2300 participants describing how they only found out about pay from colleagues, and didn’t really know what to do with the information.

The findings detailed how 44 per cent of people said they’d been paid less than someone for the same job; and 24 per cent said they’d been paid more. Almost 60 per cent said unequal pay was common.

After experience level (48 per cent), the most common reasons for being paid less was age (25 per cent) and gender (18 per cent) and ethnicity (15 per cent).

Those who cited gender, age or ethnicity as reasons for unequal pay said it made them feel they’d been treated unfairly or weren’t valued. But the majority didn’t formally complain, saying they were scared or it was pointless. About 20 per cent simply left their companies.