Pay equity working group regathers
The Government is working to overhaul proposed legislation that it says has made it harder for women to fight for pay equity.
Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety Iain Lees-Galloway and Minister for Women Julie Anne Genter are reconvening the joint working group on pay equity principles as the next step in pay equity for New Zealand women.
The original working group, set up in 2015, developed a set of principles to guide the implementation of pay equity.
But the legislation introduced by the previous Government made it harder for women to make a pay equity claim – in part because they could no longer look to other industries to benchmark their pay.
Lees-Galloway said the old legislation undermined the original joint working group principles and created unnecessary hurdles for workers raising claims.
‘‘All three parties of the new Government were opposed to the previous legislation, and said that we would not rest until New Zealand workers have genuine opportunities for pay equity.
‘‘By reconvening the joint working group, we can address these issues and propose new legislation to provide a fairer deal for women.’’
The key issues the reconvened working group will consider are: determining the merit of a claim as a pay equity claim; and how to select appropriate male comparators.
The working group includes BusinessNZ, the Employers and Manufacturers Association and the Council of Trade Unions.
BusinessNZ chief executive Kirk Hope said it would be important for the new legislation to enable legitimate pay equity claims to be easily identified and settled.
First Union general secretary Dennis Maga welcomed the move.
‘‘We’re looking forward to workers, their employers and the Government coming together to secure equal pay in 2018,’’ he said.
‘‘Retail workers, nurses, teachers and other working women across the country are keen to get to work right away on equal pay settlements.’’