5 July 2011

Govt proud of gender pay gap in NZ

The Government confirmed today that it is unwilling to take any practical steps to reduce the gender pay gap and that it was proud of the size of the gap in New Zealand, said the Green Party today.

Green MP, Catherine Delahunty today asked the Prime Minister how women can enforce their rights under the current Equal Pay Act when they have no right to access information on pay in their workplace.

“John Key cares more about maintaining secrecy around pay levels than he does about giving women the right to know if there is an equal pay issue in their workplace,” Ms Delahunty said.

“We have a letter from the BNZ to the finance workers union Finsec refusing to release data on gender and salary. Employers can say all they want about promoting equal pay for women, but if they refuse to make any data available, the Equal Pay Act is effectively unenforceable.

“This is a clear example of women trying to gather information to test their rights under the Equal Pay Act being stymied because they currently have no legal right to get that information and employers are reluctant to provide it. That is what my Bill and the Bill proposed by the Human Rights Commission aim to fix.

“It is clear that John Key prefers the status quo where he can make the right noises about equal pay but do nothing about actually closing the gender pay gap. The fact that his own department has a gender pay gap of over 20% is indicative of this fact.

“The National Government is on thin ice on this issue. The outcry over Alasdair Thompson's comments shows there is overwhelming public support to change our antiquated equal pay laws to bring them into the 21st Century.

“Having the right to request information about pay levels in your workplace is a small but simple step that would give women the ability to enforce their existing rights under the Equal Pay Act.

“It is time for John Key and National to do the right thing rather than just say the right things about equal pay,’ said Ms Delahunty.

ENDS

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