NEWS ROUNDUP
Female-dominated industries supported by law change
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arliament has passed the Equal Pay Amendment Bill, which lays out a new process to raise and consider claims of systemic sex-based pay discrimination across femaledominated industries. The law change, which will take effect as of early November 2020, will allow workers to make a pay equity claim using a process based on New Zealand’s existing bargaining
framework. The collaborative process, which makes court action a last resort, will lower the bar for workers initiating a pay equity claim. Employment New Zealand will be developing online tools and resources, with the support of its pay equity partners the Ministry for Women and the State Services Commission.
Pay equity differs from equal pay, which is about men and women getting the same pay for doing the same job. Pay equity is about women and men receiving the same pay for doing jobs that are different but of equal value (that is, jobs that require similar degrees of skills, responsibility, effort, experience and conditions).
Emerging Professional Member accreditation launched
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RNZ has recently launched a new Emerging Professional Member accreditation. Designed for those early career HR professionals, HRNZ’s Emerging Professional Member accreditation is a signal to employers and colleagues that those new to HR are committed to pursuing a career in human resources. The eligibility requirements for the accreditation include evidence of education and training in at least six of the HR delivery competencies, at least 18 months in an HR role, and the completion of the HRNZ Code of Practice module. HRNZ believes that providing this new accreditation level will encourage members to commit to continued professional development throughout their careers, and for new members, it starts them on a 4
HUMAN RESOURCES
SPRING 2020
pathway to becoming a Chartered Member of HRNZ. “In addition to the new accreditation standard, HRNZ is also working on a research project to identify how the skills and attributes expected of Emerging Professionals are changing,” says Nick McKissack, Chief Executive at HRNZ. “We’re engaging with senior HR leaders from a variety of sectors to find out what is most important to them when recruiting new team members into HR and how they see this changing in the future. We’ll use this information to ensure we’re providing our members with
the kind of professional development support that prepares them for the future.”
