Pay and Employment Equity

Pay and Employment Equity Review Compulsory Schooling Sector Project Report Executive Summary   Executive Summary (8mb pdf)   Full report (Ministry of Education website) We've still got a long way to go In 2009 in New Zealand there was a median gender pay gap in hourly earnings of 12%, and in weekly earnings of 31%. Male median weekly earnings were $992, whilst women earned only $688 (Statistics New Zealand 2009). The Government's promises to reduce the gender pay gap are hollow. Around 65% of low paid workers are women. An increase in the minimum wage would automatically reduce the gender pay gap. It would also contribute to family incomes, reducing child poverty: one in five New Zealand children live in economic hardship. Join the Pay Equity Challenge Coalition Great photos of the Red Bag Day Action calling for pay equity.

Where we got to in the reviews:

NZEI has been engaged in developing and leading the Pay and Employment Equity Review process in the education sector since mid-2003.  

When last we wrote about the Pay and Employment Equity Reviews we were waiting for the information gathering processes to completed and a report to be written with recommendations of an action plan to address any pay and employment equity issues uncovered by the Compulsory Education, Kindergarten and Group Special Education Sector Reviews.

The review in the Compulsory Schooling Sector is completed and the report went to the Minister in September 2008.  The report included 17 recommendations (see below) which included a pay investigation for Support Staff in Schools. The Committee delivered their findings in their Tripartite PAEE Review Report to the Secretary for Education who forwarded it to the Minister in early September 2008. The report incorporated an extensive response plan, including recommendations to address the inequities, implementation strategies and monitoring and evaluation processes, with timeframes.

The Group Special Education review (part of the wider Ministry of Education review) is completed as is the pay investigation for support workers in education.  The pay investigation revealed gender based pay discrimination and recommended that this be addressed as soon as possible.

The Kindergarten Teacher Review is completed.  This review looked more at employment equity issues rather than pay issues which are largely covered through pay parity.

And then...

As you know, since 2008 we have suffered a change in government and a backward step in addressing the pay and employment gap for women.

One of the first acts of the new government was to disestablish the Pay and Employment Equity Unit in the Department of Labour. 

The next act was difficult to understand.  The Government refused to honour the findings of the Pay Investigation for Support Workers, insulting the negotiating team with a 0% pay increase.  The government cited the economic downturn as the reason behind the 0% claim.  Oddly, in the US – perhaps harder hit by the economic downturn than New Zealand – the first act of the new president was to legislate to ensure pay equity for women.

The government then added $2 million dollars to the Ministry of Women’s Affairs budget to conduct research in closing the pay gap.  Yes it does feel like GroundHog Day except of course Equal Pay for Work of Equal Value is not on the menu.