Councillor Calls For Snap Election Over Pay Equity Changes

South Wairarapa councillor Rebecca Gray has challenged
the Government to call a snap election due to her concerns
over the equal pay law change.

Gray issued the
challenge during the acknowledgements section of
Thursday’s Local Water Done Well deliberation meeting, the
day after the Government passed the Pay Equity Amendment
Bill under urgency.

“I would like to acknowledge the
huge amount of work that has gone into the topic that
we’re about to discuss and I’d like to note that it
followed a very rigorous consultation process where we
engaged the community and we have followed all the
legislation and we followed all the processes.

“I
say that the day after central government passed the Pay
Equity Amendment Bill not following the same set of
processes and not allowing the community to get on board
with all of this.”

Gray looked directly at the
livestream camera and called on the Government to initiate a
snap election “recognising the fact that they’re not
acting on behalf of the country’s best
interests”.

The legislation raises the threshold for
proving work has been historically undervalued when making a
pay equity claim.

Workplace Relations and Safety
Minister Brooke van Velden said the changes would make the
process of raising and resolving pay equity claims more
“robust, workable and sustainable”.

Opponents said
it would make it harder for women in female dominated
industries to make a claim.

The changes to the
legislation included raising the threshold of
“predominantly performed by female employees” from 60
percent to 70 percent and requiring that this has been the
case for at least 10 consecutive years.

There would
also be a requirement for evidence that the work was
historically and currently undervalued, and a framework to
ensure employers were able to “meet their pay equity
obligations in a way that is sustainable for their business
– for example through phasing of settlements”.

The
legislation would also give further guidance on the use of
comparators in pay equity claims, with the Government saying
the Act did not sufficiently set out the rules for
comparators which had led to comparators being chosen even
where the work was very different to the claimant.

For
example, health administration and clerical staff employed
by district health boards used comparators of a fishery
officer, customs officer, corrections officer, and
mechanical engineer to support their pay equity
claim.

Midwifery comparators included detective senior
sergeants and transport engineers and school administration
comparatives included civil engineers, and senior fishery
officers.

Any comparison would now be between female
employees and male employees at the same employer, or if
that was not possible, then to other similar
employers.

Opponents to the amendment bill said
because there were few comparable industries that reflected
the same skill level, multifaceted work, and qualifications
held by those working in predominantly female workforces, it
would now be harder to gain pay equity.

Under the new
legislation, 33 current claims would be stopped and would
need to restart under the new threshold.

– LDR is
local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On
Air.

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