10 May 2017

Important day for equal pay

MPs have the opportunity to support women being paid what they’re worth by voting for Jan Logie’s Equal Pay Amendment Bill in Parliament tonight, the Green Party said.

The Bill would get employers to add gender as a payroll reporting requirement and allow employees to request access to this information to ensure that they are being paid fairly.

“It’s wrong that women are still earning so much less than men in 2017, and I want each MP to ask themselves tonight whether they want to change that,” said Green Party women’s spokesperson Jan Logie.

“My member’s bill will help remove the secrecy that has meant that some women continue to be underpaid for the valuable work that they do.

“A significant cause of why women are paid less is unconscious employer bias.

“Seeing the pay difference made clear in black and white will mean employers can change what they have been doing. It also means that women will know when they are being underpaid, and can use that information to take an equal pay case or just use it when negotiating their salary.

“This won’t fix the whole problem but it is part of the solution. We can take action to get women paid more, but we need our politicians to take a stand and support my Bill tonight,” Ms Logie said.

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