Pay equity claims to become easier

The Government plans to make it easier for Kiwi women to lodge pay equity claims by clarifying and simplifying the process.

The Joint Working Group on Pay Equity was reconvened by Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Iain Lees-Galloway and Minister for Women Julie Anne Genter earlier this year to develop further recommendations to add to the existing set of principles created by the original working group in 2016.

The group has now reported back to the ministers with a brief set of recommendations, which include clarification of the process for initiating a pay equity claim, retaining the ‘principles of comparators’, and amending legislation to implement the principles.

The principles are what determine whether a claim lodged by a woman should proceed as a pay equity claim.

To proceed as a pay equity claim, the work in question must be predominantly performed by women.

It should also be arguable the work has been undervalued, taking into account the history of the work and its wage settings, factors that may have led to the work being devalued, or any phenomenons whereby women are considered to have ‘‘natural’’ or ‘‘inherent’’ qualities that are not required to be accounted for in wages.

Consideration should also be given to whether gender-based, systemic undervaluation had affected wages due to factors including a lack of effective bargaining, and areas where remuneration may have been affected by occupational segregation.

The working group said the original intention of the principles was to make sure identifying and initiating a pay equity claim was a

"This Government is committed to a better deal for women."

Julie Anne Genter

‘‘simple and accessible process to all parties’’.

However, the threshold set by the principles became higher than originally intended, making it hard for women’s claims to be progressed.

By removing the word ‘‘merit’’ from the principles, clarifying the threshold for a claim to move forward, and recommending greater access to resources and information for those involved in a claim, women should have better access to pay equity, according to the group’s report to the ministers.

The issue of pay equity in New Zealand was brought to the forefront by a group of care and support workers, led by 2018 New Zealander of the Year Kristine Bartlett, who fought for redress for the past undervaluation of care and support work, which is mainly carried out by women.

The Government also recently agreed to negotiate an agreement to extend the Care and Support Pay Equity Settlement to an estimated 3800 mental health and addiction workers.

Lees-Galloway said the previous government’s legislation set ‘‘unnecessary hurdles’’ for women to make a pay equity claim.

Genter said the Labour-led Government was committed to a better deal for women.

‘‘These recommendations form the strong foundation needed for improving fairness in the workplace for women.’’

The recommendations are expected to be presented to, and adopted by, Cabinet today. Legislative changes were expected to be carried out by the middle of the year, Lees-Galloway said.