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A bill before Parliament aims to close the gender pay gap by allowing employees to discuss their wages with each other. Proponents say it's about time.
The gender pay gap remains a persistent and prickly issue in New Zealand, but the government is attempting to address it by amending a bill and introducing a new calculator.
As of late 2024, the gap is about 8.2 percent, meaning women earn on average 8.2 percent less than men for similar work.
For Māori and Pasifika women, the disparities are significantly larger - every one dollar a pākehā man makes, a Māori woman makes $0.81 and a Pasifika woman just $0.79.
"It's embarrassing for a first world country... for a wealthy country like ours... it's embarrassing that we have Pacific women earning 20 percent less than our European brothers," former Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner at the Human Rights Commission Saunoamaali'i Karanina Sumeo told The Detail.
"It is important we address this right now. It's urgent, it's overdue and it's illegal."
The government has now introduced initiatives to tackle the gap - the 'Gender Pay Gap Calculator' was launched last month to help businesses identify and address pay disparities. It includes tools for calculating gaps and creating action plans.
And the Employment Relations (Employee Remuneration Disclosure) Amendment Bill is now under review. It passed its first reading last month and submissions are open until the end of next month.
It aims to expose, and address pay inequalities and - if passed - will enhance pay transparency by prohibiting confidentiality clauses that restrict employees from discussing their salaries.
"The gender pay gap lives like dark mould at the back of a Wellington wardrobe... it's just not seen, and it's not talked about," self-confessed 'pay gap geek' and consultant Jo Cribb tells The Detail.
"This Bill will blow it open, so let's do it."
Cribb has her own pay gap experience - she once took on a leadership role at her workplace only to discover a new pay band after she resigned.
"I trusted my employer that I would be paid fairly but when I left the role about three years later and saw what was being advertised, I had missed out on nearly... well, I could have nearly bought a house, it was that big, the gap.
"I felt very angry," she says. "Just the sense of fairness and I guess that sense of being deeply ripped off at the most innate level."
Submissions for the Employment Relations (Employee Remuneration Disclosure) Amendment Bill close on Thursday 23 January.
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