News Roundup

Female-dominated industries supported by law change

Parliament 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

HRNZ 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 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.”

Tackling temporary migrant worker exploitation

A investment over the next four years will address temporary migrant worker exploitation in the New Zealand workplace.

The investment will facilitate changes to reduce the risk of exploitation occurring in the workplace and remove barriers to reporting exploitation, along with improving response systems for helping migrant workers.

Specific initiatives include establishing a new visa to support migrants to leave exploitative work situations and increasing the number of labour inspectors and immigration investigators, to strengthen the enforcement response. In addition, a free-phone number and reporting service will be set up to receive and handle complaints about exploitative work situations. This is hoped to build a better understanding of the nature and scale of the problem, which will inform enforcement action.

These changes are part of a review led by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment into temporary migrant worker exploitation. The review aims to prevent migrant exploitation at work, protect migrants in the workplace, and enforce immigration and employment law.

“It’s great to see these initiatives being introduced to encourage migrant workers in exploitive situations to speak out”, says Rachael Mason, immigration lawyer at Lane Neave. “These people are extremely vulnerable and their employers wield such power over them it can often keep them locked into awful situations for years. These measures will also help level the playing field for the majority of New Zealand employers who have been doing the right thing but being undercut in the market by the few rogue operators exploiting their own staff in order to make more money.”

Banking industry first to be living wage accredited

Banking has become New Zealand’s first fully living wage accredited industry, leading to nearly 1,800 employees and contractors moving onto the living wage.

New Zealand Bankers’ Association (NZBA) Chief Executive Roger Beaumont supports the move, stating: “As one of the largest industries in the country, we are showing leadership by committing to paying the living wage. I encourage all industries to, where possible, pay the living wage to their employees and contractors”.

NZBA research shows that almost 80 per cent of New Zealanders think the banking industry paying the living wage is a good idea and that it is important. Banks employ more than 25,000 people in New Zealand and, last year, the five major banks paid $2.7 billion to employees nationwide.

“This is the first time we have had a whole sector showing leadership around a living wage and that is really something to celebrate,” says Annie Newman, Living Wage National Convenor.

The living wage is currently $21.15 per hour and will increase to $22.10 per hour on 1 September 2020. It is set by an independent group, the Family Centre Social Policy Research Unit, based on the assessed needs of a family of two adults (one working 40 hours per week and one working 20 hours per week) and two children.