Workplace Relations Minister Brooke van Velden said under the previous rules, claims were “able to progress without strong evidence of undervaluation”, or without proving the difference in pay was “due to sex-based discrimination or other factors”.
[…] The 2020 version of the Equal Pay Act outlined how employees who believed their remuneration had been suppressed due to discrimination could put forward a claim, whether individually or – more commonly – via a union.
In order for a claim to be considered, the work had to be “that is currently, or that was historically, performed by a workforce of which approximately 60 per cent or more members are female”.
Determining whether the work had been undervalued included factors such as its history, social and cultural factors, and whether it had been characterised as “women’s work” or expected to have been done for free.
Another consideration was if there had been past failures to “properly assess or consider” what that work was worth, taking into account “the nature of the work, the levels of responsibility associated, [working] conditions… and the degree of effort required”.
[…] Bargaining “involves an assessment of the work of the claimant and suitable comparator [emphasis added] occupations” to find out what the claimants should be paid – whether that is what they are already on, or more.
[…] A “comparator” occupation is one which requires a similar level of skills, responsibility, experience and degree of effort required – and is used as a yard-stick for comparison during the claim.
[…] In 2012, aged care worker and future New Zealander of the Year Kristine Bartlett and the Service and Food Workers Union (now part of E Tū) took legal action against Terranova Homes and Care. They argued its caregiver workforce – including a few men – were underpaid because their work was considered “women’s work”.
They won the case, the first of its kind to be brought under the 1972 act, prompting the National-led government of the time to convene a working group to figure out how the law could be updated to achieve pay equity across all types of work. The resulting bill was highly criticised by unions, and thrown out when Labour formed a new government in 2017.
After reconvening the working group, a new bill was introduced which brought pay equity claims into the existing bargaining framework, with court action only as a last resort. This became law in 2020.
Then-Minister for Women Julie Anne Genter of the Green Party said it was about “fixing the injustice of female-dominated workforces being paid less than male-dominated workforces to do work that requires a similar level of skill, effort and education”.
Some opposition MPs criticised the bill and its timing – as the country sought to recover economically from the first Covid-19 lockdown – but voted for it anyway.
Since the change, the Public Service Commission says more than 100,000 employees “have had their pay corrected over multiple settlements in the public and publicly-funded sectors”.
[…] The changes brought in under urgency in the Equal Pay Amendment Act 2025, in the bill’s own words, are:
· increasing the threshold for raising pay equity claims by requiring claims to have merit and by increasing the threshold for what qualifies as work that is “predominantly performed by female employees”; and
· requiring unions raising a claim on behalf of multiple employees to provide evidence to demonstrate how the work covered by a pay equity claim is the same or substantially similar; and […]
· introducing a hierarchy of comparators so that comparators in closer proximity to the employer must be selected, where they exist, and allowing parties to agree to use a pay equity settlement (if settled under the Act as amended by this Bill) as an additional comparator; […]
Van Velden said the changes would not only make the pay equity scheme “workable and sustainable”, but “significantly reduce costs to the Crown”.
“There are often significant costs involved with pay equity settlements which can involve large workforces… and we need to ensure the process to raise and resolve claims is robust.”
Much of the debate has focussed on which “comparators” (see the definition above) should be used for each job and whether unfair comparisons are being made between industries during claims.
“You have librarians who’ve been comparing themselves to transport engineers,” van Velden said.
“We have admin and clerical staff at Health New Zealand comparing themselves to mechanical engineers.””
So it basically comes down to one simple question: Is it too easy for claimants to make successful claims under the Equal Pay Act?
And one way to answer the question is to look at past successful claims:
Click to view
I don’t know about you but I’m scratching my head seeing how aged-care workers can be compared to forestry workers, or library assistants to IT technicians. Or for that matter how clerical workers can be compared to electricians and trade workers.
So for me the answer to the question is a big fat yes. In fact the amendments don’t go far enough.
Source: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/560849/pay-equity-claims-what-they-are-and-how-they-re-changing
Kevin is a Libertarian and pragmatic anarchist. His favourite saying: “There but for the grace of God go I.” This article was first published HERE
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