Policy — Pay equity
Proposal
POLICY – Pay Equity
More than 50 years ago, union leader and former MP Sonya Davies championed the “Working Women’s Charter”.[1] Much has yet to be achieved, including pay equity.
Work typically done by women, particularly Māori and Pasifika women, continues to be undervalued, contributing to an on-going sex-based pay gap and sex/ethnicity pay gap.
The Women’s Right Party advocates for effective policies to deliver pay equity in private sector as well as public sector jobs, including a strong onus on employers, publication of average hourly pay statistics by occupation, sex and ethnicities, and reinstatement of legislative support for Fair Pay Agreements.
Women’s Rights Party members are concerned about the impact on women of changes in April 2025 to pay equity legislation under urgency. An estimated 150,000 women workers whose pay equity claims have been extinguished are now in limbo. Many of these claims will not be able to restart under the new pay equity regime.[2]
We supported the People’s Select Committee process to look at the changes the Government has made and to examine the evidence, for and against.
[1] Working Women’s Charter – Women’s labour organisations – Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand
[2] Mother’s Day statement on pay equity, 11 May 2025. https://womensrightsparty.nz/equal-pay-for-mothers-day-an-oldie-but-a-goodie/
Rationale
Women’s Rights Party members are concerned about the impact on women of changes to pay equity legislation under urgency, thus denying public submissions to examine the pros and cons of the legislation through a Select Committee process.
An estimated 150,000 women workers whose pay equity claims have been extinguished are now in limbo. Many of these claims will not be able to restart under the new pay equity regime.
Women’s work and contributions to society, whether paid or unpaid, have been systematically undervalued over a very long time.[1] Work typically done by women, continues to be undervalued, and this contributes to the on-going sex-based pay gap.
The 14 pay equity settlements to date, mostly in the core public sector and the education and health sectors, have made a big difference in the pay of women workers, and of men working in women-dominated sectors.
Low paid workers such as teacher aides and care and support workers now have more money in their pay packets to feed, clothe, and house their families.
But the settlements created pay disparities with those employed in organisations largely dependent on government funding, like Plunket, hospices, medical laboratories, and community organisations employing social workers.
Many of the 33 pay equity claims that have been extinguished, were to address pay parity with nurses and social workers who are directly employed in public sector agencies like Health NZ and Oranga Tamariki whose pay equity settlements were settled some time ago.
If issues of the predominantly government-funded sector are not addressed, it becomes impossible for non-government organisations to attract and retain staff.
Cutting back on pay equity for women workers will have a long-lasting effect. A major source of the disadvantage women face in retirement is inequity in retirement savings because women earn less than men on average over their working life (this is called the “pay gap penalty”).
