EMPLOYMENT LAW UPDATE SIANATU LOTOASO
Pay equity does not address (biggest) Pacific Pay Gap Serious disparities in pay exist in New Zealand. Among these disparities, Pacific Islanders are the largest systemically undervalued group in New Zealand. Sianatu Lotoaso explores the Pacific Pay Gap and what we can do about it.
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hen it comes to undervaluation in pay, the government has tried to address this in the Equal Pay Act 1972 (EPA) by providing a framework to raise equal pay and pay equity claims. But the EPA is based on sex. For example, equal pay is about women and men receiving the same pay for doing the same job; and pay equity is about women and men receiving the same pay for doing jobs that are different but of equal value. Therefore, the existing legislation does not consider the biggest and most persistent pay equality and equity disparities in New Zealand, which is the pay gap between Pākehā and Pacific Island people (the Pacific Pay Gap). Under the Human Rights Act 1990 (HRA) and Employment Relations Act 2000 (ERA), discrimination in employment on the basis of race and ethnicity is unlawful. Even if Pasifika chose to pursue an unlawful discrimination claim in the human 30
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rights or employment jurisdictions, the difficulties they would face are significant if not insurmountable. This means no real legal recourse is available to Pasifika to remedy these disparities.
make recommendations, including on legislation. The Inquiry estimates that, if the gap “were to continue closing at its current rate, it would take 110 years before the Pacific Pay Gap was closed”. Pacific Pay Gap
What is the Pacific Pay Gap? What are the causes of the Given the persistence of the Pacific Pay Gap? Pacific Pay Gap, the Human Rights Commission (HRC) is currently conducting the Pacific Pay Gap Inquiry (Inquiry) to better understand why the Pacific Pay Gap exists and how it can be closed.
The factors causing these disparities in pay are complex. For example, the concentration of Pacific workers in certain occupations that are undervalued is relevant, but it does not explain everything.
According to the Inquiry, in 2020, the gap in average hourly wages for Pacific men was 24 per cent, and Pacific women was 27 per cent when compared with Pākehā men. Pacific Pay Gap HRC faqs
In 2018, Treasury examined the Pacific–Pākehā pay gap and concluded that (like the Māori– Pākehā pay gap) educational level and occupation had the largest impact on the pay disparities experienced by Pacific people. The Treasury (2018) Statistical Analysis of Ethnic Wage Gaps
In other words, for every dollar a Pākehā man makes, a Pacific man makes 76 cents, and a Pacific woman makes 73 cents. Pacific women are the most underpaid demographic in New Zealand. The gaps are substantial and have not changed significantly for more than 10 years. A reference group was convened by the Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner, Saunoamaali’i Dr Karanina Sumeo, to help the Inquiry. Following the Inquiry, the HRC will then consider whether to
However, the majority of the Pacific Pay Gap cannot be explained by these two factors. For example, according to the Treasury analysis: • differences in highest qualification account for 19–22 per cent of the pay gap for Pacific men and 20–22 per cent of the pay gap for Pacific women; and • differences in occupation account for 31–33 per cent of the pay gap for Pacific men and
