Pay & Employment Equity
About Pay and Employment Equity
Pay and employment equity is an important human rights and social justice issue, as well as an economic issue. It is about fairness.
The Equal Pay Act 1972 provided that women and men doing the same job would get the same pay. Despite this and other legislation, there is still a gender pay gap and lack of equity in employment opportunities for women. Now the Government wants to make sure that pay, work conditions, and the types of jobs women have access to are not limited by gender.
The responsibility for addressing and promoting equity in the New Zealand State Services is shared between the State Services Commission, the Human Rights Commission and the Pay and Employment Equity Unit, whose joint roles are described elsewhere on this website.
Pay equity means that women and men receive the same pay not only for doing the same work but for doing work that is different but of equal value. The value of work is assessed in terms of skill, knowledge, responsibility, effort and working conditions. Employment equity is about fairness in recruitment, in opportunities and in promotion at work.
Pay and employment equity combines pay equity and employment equity. It:
- reflects the outcome of a systematic approach to identifying and eliminating unjustifiable causes of inequity
- provides fair and productive workplaces that enable people to enter into and fully participate in the workforce without gender bias
- is about recognising and valuing differences, and ensuring that pay, conditions, access to the full range of jobs, access to all levels of the workplace, and experiences in the workplace, are not negatively affected by gender.
Why is there still a gender pay gap in New Zealand?
The continuing gap between overall average hourly earnings for women and men is just one element of pay and employment equity, and is attributable to a complex range of contributory factors. However, the Report of the Taskforce on: Pay and Employment Equity in the Public Service and the Public Health and Public Education Sectors summarised three key workplace factors in the gender pay gap as:
- the jobs that women do
- how jobs are valued
- how jobs are organised.
For more information about how the Taskforce arrived at these factors, see the Taskforce–associated research papers and the Work, Research and Statistics about PEEU sections on this website. The key factors are examined in the pay and employment equity review process.
Review process
As part of the Government´s five–year Pay and Employment Equity Plan of Action, a six–step review process has been set in place. Phase One of the Plan of Action covers reviews for organisations in the Public Service and the public health and public education sectors and these are now under way. The Government will be considering Phases Two and Three in due course. Phase Two would cover reviews of crown entities and state–owned enterprises and government–funded contract workers. Phase Three would look at other employers, including local government and the private sector. For more information see the Pay and Employment Equity Plan of Action factsheet.
Pay and employment equity reviews are based on the premise that women and men should have equitable opportunities at work to access rewards, to participate, and to be treated with respect and fairness.
Summary of Review Findings in Phase One Organisations
The Progress towards Pay and Employment Equity for Women Public Service Reviews and Responses report provides a summary and overview of information received from the first 18 completed Public Service pay and employment equity reviews and response plans.
Legislation
While no new legislation has been created specifically to address pay and employment equity, the State Sector Act 1988, the Human Rights Act 1993, the Employment Relations Act 2000 and the Crown Entities Act 2004 include provisions that relate to the issue.