Pay & Employment Equity
Welcome
Kia ora. Welcome to the Pay and Employment Equity Unit website.
This site gives you background information on pay and employment equity issues, the development of the Government´s Pay and Employment Equity Plan of Action, the work of the Pay and Employment Equity Unit, the pay and employment equity review process, pay investigation guidelines and remedial pay settlement processes. The site leads you to Assessment Tools, as well to Fact Sheets and Case Studies.
In addition, you are offered the opportunity to ask your own questions and to see the responses to them and to other people’s queries. You can also sign up for an email alert when new information is placed on the site.
The site also contains Associated Work and Research, Resources and Statistics.
Background
While women have come into the workforce in record numbers over the past 50 years, and some have achieved at the highest levels, the gap in men’s and women’s pay rates shows that women´s work continues to be undervalued.
The participation of working–age women in the paid workforce has grown from 29% in 1959 to a current 62%. However, women are still concentrated in a narrower range of jobs than men are, and are under–represented in higher–level positions. In 2006, women earn 87% of the average hourly earnings of men. Between 1984 and 2006, the pay gap has narrowed by just 7%.
In 2003, the Government set up a Taskforce to advise how the factors that contribute to the gender pay gap apply in particular parts of the New Zealand Public Service and in the public health and public education sectors. The Taskforce was also required to advise on a five–year plan of action for achieving pay and employment equity. (See Report of the Taskforce on: Pay and Employment Equity in the Public Service and the Public Health and Public Education Sectors.)
In response to recommendations in the Taskforce report, the Government established the Pay and Employment Equity Unit in 2004. The Unit is charged with implementing the Pay and Employment Equity Plan of Action. This includes developing a review process and a Equitable Job Evaluation Tool, administering a Contestable Fund, and providing ongoing training and support.
Speaking at the launch of the Unit, Associate Minister of Labour Ruth Dyson said the Government recognises that pay and employment equity will bring both social and economic benefits. Secretary of Labour James Buwalda, in his Foreword to Working Towards Pay and Employment for Women, said that pay and employment equity will help New Zealand meet the challenges and opportunities of the current environment of high employment.
The Unit is currently building a list of Frequently Asked Questions. If you have any questions about the Unit or Pay and Employment Equity, please email the Unit at equity@dol.govt.nz. While we build this, visit the Frequently Asked Questions Factsheet to see if this answers your question.