Kia ora & welcome to mindthegap.nz
We are campaigning for a more equitable Aotearoa New Zealand that gives all of us a fair chance at a good life.
Vital to this is acknowledging we have pay gaps throughout our workforce of which we cannot be proud. Some of us are even paid less for doing the same job as others. For an economically strong Aotearoa New Zealand where everyone gets a fair deal, we need to do something. Now.
The MindTheGap campaign believes that to close our pay gaps, mandatory pay gap reporting is required here in Aotearoa just as it is in Australia, the UK and many other countries.
When we know what the gaps are, we can work to close them.
We invite you to join us in saying KNOW your Pay Gaps and YES to reporting them.
What is a ‘Pay Gap’?
It is the difference between the earnings of two groups of people
For example, the gender pay gap compares the median hourly earnings of women and men in full and part-time work.
So, if an organisation has a gender pay gap of 20%, this means that the [men] earned 20% higher median hourly pay than the women in the organisation.
The Māori pay gap and Pacific Peoples’ pay gap need to be reported as the link between our gender, ethnicity pay gaps and our child poverty crisis needs to be addressed with urgency. “Material hardship rates are much higher for Māori and Pacific children/ethnicities (23-28%) compared with that for European or Asian children/ethnicities (6-10%).
(Child Poverty in NZ Report prepared by Bryan Perry)
Why does measuring our pay gaps matter?
Gender and ethnicity pay gap measures show who has access to the higher-paying roles in an organisation and who works in areas that attract higher salaries.
Research shows that much of the gap can not be explained other than by conscious or unconscious bias or discrimination.
(Ref: Empirical Evidence of GPG in NZ - Gail Pacheco1*, Chao Li1 and Bill Cochrane2- March 2017)
By measuring and closing the gaps, as a country we will ensure we are utilising all of our talent, all of the time.
Paying someone less for the same job is illegal under the Pay Equity Act 1972. In calculating pay gaps it is common for employers to find pay equity issues.
New Zealand law requires “that men and women doing work requiring the same, or substantially similar, skill, effort, responsibility and working conditions are paid the same”.
New Zealand’s Equal Pay Act legislation (1972 and subsequent amendments)
In breaching this law and failing to resolve breaches with urgency, employers can face hefty fines and prison time.
Who needs to make plans to know and close their Pay Gaps?
Board Directors, Chief Executive Officers, Chief Financial Officers, all Managers, particularly People and Culture Managers, and Business Owners.
Who needs to pay close attention to, and encourage the closing of, our company Pay Gaps?
Employees, Investors, Owners, NZX, our Government, Recruitment Agencies, the Media and anyone who is ever likely to buy something….!
Transparency of our Pay Gaps matters to us all.
Join us in saying KNOW our pay gaps and YES to reporting them, so that Aotearoa New Zealand can be a place where we all get the chance to thrive.
Add your name to our call to saying KNOW our pay gaps and YES to reporting them
Ma mua ka kite a muri
Ma muri ka ora a mui
Those who lead give sight to those who follow
Those who follow give life to those who lead
To request more information regarding pay gap reporting send us an email with how we can help to kiaora@mindthegap.nz.
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mindthegap.nz
Arohanui.