Maureen Pugh
West Coast-Tasman MP
You may have heard about the changes to pay equity legislation, but you may not have heard all of the details. So, I’d like to get a few things straight on one of the most mis-understood political issues of late.
First, pay equity recognises and corrects the fact that some female-dominated workforces have been historically underpaid and undervalued due to sex-based discrimination. It is not the same as the right to equal pay, which means a woman doing the same job as a man should get the same pay. Equal pay remains protected in New Zealand law as it has since 1972. Nothing there has changed.
Secondly, under the latest pay equity changes, no woman has had her pay cut. The twelve pay equity settlements reached to date including for nurses, social workers, midwives, teacher aides, school librarians and care and support workers remain.
Those settlements resulted in higher pay for tens of thousands of women, and they continue to be funded by the Government, at a cost of around $1.8 billion a year. The pay of these women is not at risk. Third, pay equity claims are still able to be raised under the new system and further pay equity settlements are expected. The Government has set aside a large amount of money to fund these claims under the new law.
So why has the Government made changes to pay equity? The first pay-equity claim was proved in the Supreme Court on behalf of thousands of care and support workers. In response, the last National Government delivered the first ever pay-equity settlement in New Zealand. It then designed a clear legal regime so that other claims could be progressed without workers having to resort to court action.
However, in 2020 the Labour Government put its own pay equity regime in place. This saw admin workers compared with civil engineers; social workers put beside detectives; and librarians compared with fishery officers in order to compare pay rates for like roles. What started under National as a clear pay equity regime to redress historically underpaid female-dominated workforces, became a multi-billion-dollar grievance industry that departed a very long way from issues of sex-discrimination. It also became completely unaffordable.
The Government has now put in place a much more workable pay equity regime. It has set out a transparent process through which employers and employees can negotiate the question of equal value. They also mean a lot more money can now be invested in other services Kiwis need, like schools, hospitals, roads and other much needed initiatives as outlined in the 2025 Budget. We are getting pay equity back on track.
Please continue to give me feedback and ask questions. I am as close as an email or a phone call. Maureen.pughmp@parliament.govt.nz or phone 0800Maureen
