WEPs 2021

Coming together during uncertain times like #COVID19 is important to ensure that no one is left behind.

Sign the @WEPrinciples (#WEPs) & implement Principle 3 to ensure the health and safety of all employees today! 👉 weps.org.nz 

Coming together during uncertain times like #COVID19 is important to ensure that no one is left behind.

Sign the @WEPrinciples (#WEPs) & implement Principle 3 to ensure the health and safety of all employees today! 👉 weps.org

WEPs Bulletin from New York - December 2019

 https://mailchi.mp/69068b977024/nz-weps-weps-bulletin-from-new-york-december-2019

AIA Supreme Award Winners 2019 White Camellia Awards - Parliament

2019 White Camellia Awards at The Grand Hall, Parliament

The NZ Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) committee were delighted to have The Honourable Julie-Anne Genter, the Minister for Women, host the White Camellia Awards at Parliament on the 17^th of September when we celebrated the work of businesses and organisations that are putting gender equality strategies into their workplace.
The partner organisations of the NZ WEPs committee (UN Women Aotearoa NZ, the Human Rights Commission, Business and Professional Women New Zealand and Zonta International District 16) wish to congratulate the winners of the 2019 awards for their achievements in working to promote gender equity.
During June and July NZ WEPs signatories were asked to complete a questionnaire looking at how they are progressing in implementing the seven principles.  This survey is hosted and analysed by the NZ Work Research Institute and from the results of the survey a judging panel determines who wins each of the awards. The report on the 2019 annual survey (with some examples of innovative practice) can be downloaded at http://www.weps.org.nz/resources
Awards are made for excellence in implementing each of the seven principles and a supreme winner was also chosen by the judging panel.  The awards were presented by the Minister, the Hon. Julie-Anne Genter, the EEO Commissioner Dr Karanina Sumeo and Traci Houpapa.
The award winners for 2019 were:
Principle 1 (Leadership promoting gender equality): AIA New Zealand (previously named Sovereign Assurance)
Principle 2 (Equal opportunity, inclusion and non-discrimination): Coco Cola Amatil NZ
Principle 3 (Health, safety and freedom from violence): AIA New Zealand
Principle 4 (Education and Training): Bell Gully
Principle 5 (Enterprise development, supply chain & marketing practices): Westpac New Zealand
Principle 6 (Community leadership and engagement): KPMG
Principle 7 (Transparency, measuring and reporting): AIA New Zealand
Small business/organisation Award: Otago Chamber of Commerce
Supreme Award Winner: AIA New Zealand

AIA New Zealand won three of the Principle sections and was in contention for several others.  The judges were impressed with their excellent performance across the WEPs survey and agreed that they were a clear winner of the Supreme Award.
Many of the award categories were very competitive and the NZ WEPs committee is delighted with the number of businesses doing great work to empower women by ensuring women progress into leadership roles and that comprehensive talent identification, support and training opportunities are in place for staff at all levels.
All our award winners are to be congratulated on their innovation, commitment and vision in building gender equal workplaces.  WEPs is helping NZ businesses raise the bar on business practices and turning more and more workplaces into welcoming and empowering environments for women entering employment.
Congratulations to our winners and congratulations too for so many other signatories who made big strides in their gender equity journey over the past year.  They can feel very proud of the part they play in building holistic workplace policies that empower women and for the ripple effect this is having through our communities.
Keynote speaker for the evening was Traci Houpapa, award winning company director and a recognised industry leader.  She is also a trusted advisor to Māori, Government, public and private sector entities on strategic and economic development.  Traci spoke of her journey and the inspiration she had received as a schoolgirl that she “could be anything she wanted to be”.  An important reminder to all of us to be generous with our words and to uplift our young women and girls.
Professor Gail Pacheco, NZ Work Research Institute, spoke of the trends emerging from the 2019 survey.  Our thanks go to the NZ Work Research Institute for their sponsorship of the survey and their ongoing support of the work of the NZ WEPs committee.
My thanks also go to our NZ WEPs committee made up of women from UN Women Aotearoa New Zealand (Sue Kedgley, Tara Singh and Suzanne McNabb), Business and Professional Women (Hellen Swales, Mary Hope and myself), Human Rights Commission (Dr Karanina Sumeo and Joanna Maskell), Zonta International District 16 (Souella Cumming, Janette Irvine and Marie Thompson) and our WEPs administrator, Genevieve Brown. Together we are working to promote and administer the UN Women’s Empowerment Principles and we are pleased to see the influence the principles are having in New Zealand workplaces.

Vicky Mee
Chair NZ Women’s Empowerment Principles committee

WEPs : White Camellia Award Winners Announced September 4...

WEPs : White Camellia Award Winners Announced September 4...: The White Camellia Awards celebrate and recognise the New Zealand business community's support for gender equity.  Equal treatment ...

White Camellia Award Winners Announced September 4th 2018

The White Camellia Awards celebrate and recognise the New Zealand business community's support for gender equity. 

Equal treatment of women and men is not just the right thing to do – it is also good for business. The full participation of women in our enterprises and in the larger community makes sound business sense now and in the future. A broad concept of sustainability and corporate responsibility that embraces women’s empowerment as a key goal will benefit us all. 

We are pleased to announce the following winners:

ANZ Bank Supreme Award Winner

Mayor Phil Goff presents the WEPs award for Principle 6, Promote equality through community  initiatives and advocacy to Hannah McDonald, Talent and Culture Analyst ANZ and Gina Mcjorrow, Senior Business Manager, Talent and Culture ANZ Bank.

Lisa Millard, HR Consultant ANZ, Gina McJorrow of ANZ presented the WEPs award for Principle 2,  Treat all men and women fairly at work respect and support human right and non-discrimination, and Principle 5, Implement enterprise development, supply chain and marketing practices that empower women by the Governor General, The Rt Hon. Dame Patsy Reddy.

Governor General The Rt Hon. Dame Patsy Reddy with Dr Jackie Blue, Human Rights Commissioner, present Gina McJorrow of ANZ Bank the Supreme Award for the White Camellia Awards 2018.

ANZ was the winner of the Supreme Award through demonstrating their exceptional commitment to gender equality in the workplace and working with the community to empower women.

ANZ have taken some really practical steps to ensure gender equality such as closing the gender pay gap, having excellent parental leave and carers policies, right through to putting a gender lens on their supply chain and marketing provisions.

Awards for Principle 1, Establish high level corporate leadership for gender equality, and Principle 7, Measure and publicly report on progress to achieve gender equality were taken out by leading organisation Sovereign.

 Sovereign

The Rt Hon. Dame Patsy Reddy presents awards to Brynlea Hunter-Morpeth, Chief People and Culture Officer AIA NZ and Theresa Gattung, Chair of Sovereign. 

The Rt Hon. Dame Patsy Reddy with Sovereign representatives Tansey McLoughlin, Head of HR Business Partnership, Linda Page, Chief Financial Officer, Theresa Gattung, Chair, Brynlea Hunter-Morpeth, Doune Connett, Chief Risk Officer, Actuary and Rosalyn Lambert, Internal Communications Manager.

Westpac Bank NZ received awards for Principle 3, Ensure the health, safety and well-being of all women and men workers, and Principle 4, Promote education, training and professional development for women.

Westpac Bank

The Rt Hon. Dame Patsy Reddy presents the awards to Jennie Ryan, HO Learning, Talent and Culture and Chelsea MacMillan, Organisational Development Consultant.

2018 Small Business Award Winner Ebborn Law. 

The Rt Hon Dame Patsy Reddy presents the award to Erin Ebborn of Ebborn Law

A warm congratulations to all our winners for the 2018 White Camellia Awards

MEDIA RELEASE: WHITE CAMELLIA AWARD WINNERS ANNOUNCED

The New Zealand Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) Committee announced the winners of the White Camellia awards in Auckland tonight.

“The White Camellia awards celebrate organisational commitment to the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs), a UN Women and UN Global Compact initiative which encourages gender equality in the workplace,” says NZ WEPs Committee Chair, Vicky Mee.

“We are pleased to announce that ANZ was the winner of the Supreme Award through demonstrating their exceptional commitment to gender equality in the workplace and working with the community to empower women.

“ANZ have taken some really practical steps to ensure gender equality such as closing their gender pay gap, having excellent parental leave and carers policies, right through to putting a gender lens on their supply chain and marketing provisions.

“We would like other companies in New Zealand to follow ANZ’s example in recognising that treating women fairly is the right thing to do, and makes good economic sense”.

“Alongside the supreme winner ANZ, Sovereign and Westpac won two categories each.

“Both Sovereign and Westpac have been doing great work to empower women by ensuring women progress into leadership roles and that comprehensive talent identification, support and training opportunities are in place for staff at all levels.

“The White Camellia Awards ismall business award was won by Ebborn Law.

“We were impressed by Ebborn Law’s incorporation of the WEP’s principles into their business practise, and their valuable work in the community to promote gender equality” says Mrs Mee.

ENDS

The five organisations who make up the NZ WEPs Committee are: UN Women National Committee Aotearoa New Zealand, NZ Federation of Business & Professional Women, Human Rights Commission, Diversity Works NZ and Zonta International District 16.

For more information or to schedule an interview please contact the NZ WEPs Committee Chair Vicky Mee on 021 116 8948

2018 White Camellia Awards

WEPs invites you to attend this years White Camellia Awards 2018.

We are looking forward to celebrating the evening to honour businesses promoting gender equity through the Women's Empowerment Principles.

Please email admin@weps.org.nz if you would like to order a ticket to the Awards evening.

Welcome to our newest Signatory Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology

WEPs Signatory Certificate presented to Cathy Cooney, Chair of the Te Ohomai Council, and CEO of Te Ohomai, Dr Leon Fourie by Vicky Mee, the Chair of WEPs

WEPs Signatory Toi Ohomai

At a stakeholder event held at Mokoia Campuson on the 21^st February, Toi Ohomai Chief Executive Leon Fourie said the organisation was delighted to become a signatory and take a leading role to achieving gender equality in the workplace. At Toi Ohomai, women make up 61% of staff, 50% of the executive leadership team and 55% of the leadership team.

“We are committed to establishing and demonstrating a high level of corporate leadership in this area and will continue to use our size and influence to work towards women’s rights,” Dr Fourie said.

Vicky Mee, Chair of the NZ WEPs committee, was pleased that Toi Ohomai, as an educational institute, had joined UN WEPs because young people being exposed to good modelling of gender equality at work is so important, she said.  “We want young people to see a mixture of men and women working together in managerial roles so we are delighted that Toi Ohomai is now going to join us and demonstrate their commitment to gender equality.”

Toi Ohomai Executive Director, Strategic Partnerships and Māori Success Ana Morrison who is leading the UN WEPs initiative at the Institute, said she would now work closely with UN WEPs to implement a plan using the resources and expertise available, and contextualise this to the unique Toi Ohomai demographic.

Welcome to New Signatories for December 2017

The WEPs committee is pleased to welcome two new signatories in the last two months.
They are:
Russell McVeagh
Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology (Tauranga, Rotorua, Whakatane, Tokoroa and Taupo)

WEPs Breakfast Roundtable -Pay Equity and Equal Pay: Discussion of the ‘Why’ and the ‘How To’

There was great interest from signatories in the WEPs’ panel events in Auckland on 29th November and in Wellington on November 30th discussing Pay Equity and Equal Pay. Both events were moderated by the Equal Opportunities Commissioner with the Human Rights Commission, Dr Jackie Blue. A line up of very experienced panellists discussed why we must strive for pay equity and equal pay, exploring how to assess an organisation’s position and then set targets moving forward. There were great examples of successful corporate journeys.

The WEPs committee thanks Simpson Grierson for hosting both events and extends its appreciation to Jo Copeland, Human Resources Director, for steering Simpson Grierson’s journey towards pay equity. The law firm was the Supreme Winner of the 2017 WEPs White Camellia awards.

Panellists in Auckland were:
Annie Newman, National Director of Campaigning, E Tu Union
Susan Doughty, Executive Director, People Advisory Services, Ernst & Young
Jo Copeland, HR Director Simpson Grierson and Gold Award winner at YWCA Equal Pay Awards
Jan Jones, General Manager People Support, The Warehouse Group

Panellists in Wellington were:
Sue O’Shea, Equal Pay Campaign manager, CTU
Hon. Julie Anne Genter, Minister for Women
Gina McJorrow, Senior Business Manager, Talent & Culture ANZ
Jo Copeland, HR Director Simpson Grierson and Gold Award winner at YWCA Equal Pay Awards

Key points from union panellists were:
- Making sure no-one was left behind in poverty
- Union voice in working with civil society to demand equal pay for equal work
- Twin levers of the Living Wage and Equal Pay court cases/negotiation to raise wages of women in low income jobs
- Need for transparency
- Fair rate for job untainted by gender bias
- Importance of closing the gender pay gap in the public service
- Ask what your cleaner is being paid!

Practical steps towards equal pay (Susan Doughty, EY):
- Know your data and equip decision makers with key metrics
- Pay gaps can be viewed organisation wide, at each level or on like for like basis
- Set targets to recruit and promote females into higher skilled and higher paid jobs
- Remove bias from people processes (recruitment, selection, promotions, salary reviews)
- Allocate budget to fixing pay issues
- Moderate performance outcomes with a gender lens
- Consider occupational segregation – re-think how some roles are valued
- Educate, communicate and illuminate
- Analyse and report progress to the Board


Directions for Equal Pay from the Minister for Women
- Aim to close the gender pay gap in the public service in 4 years
- Chief executives of Government agencies will have equal pay as one of their key performance indicators (KPIs)
- The Employment (Pay Equity and Equal Pay) Bill introduced by the previous Government will be halted and work is going ahead on new legislation adhering to the recommendations of the Joint Working Group on Pay Equity.

Lessons learnt by corporates on the journey to Equal Pay:
- Centralise remuneration decisions to ensure internal relativity and use of external data
- Work through year cohorts of new intakes to compare with year before
- Data analysis at lower levels key to find where parity issues lie
- Parental leave and transitioning back to work big part of ensuring equal pay (those returning from parental leave are the most focussed workers)
- Budget required to fix the pay gap
- Consider structure of company and calibre of managers to make pay transparency credible
- Entering equal pay awards useful as get validated by external expert and get feedback
- Remember that women undervalue their own performance
- Query the value of unconscious bias training as conscious decisions needed to put diversity in place
- Make flexibility mainstream
- Deliberately support women into managerial roles
- Make shortlist for every role 50/50 on gender balance
- Learn to identify potential, think creatively and shoulder tap
- Provide opportunities and training for women to find confidence in speaking and using social media and become comfortable saying “I’m an expert” or “I’m ambitious”.

These panels were energising and thought provoking with many great examples given of processes that have successful closed gender pay gaps.

The WEPs committee thanks Simpson Grierson for hosting both events and extends its appreciation to Jo Copeland, Human Resources Director, for steering Simpson Grierson’s journey towards pay equity. The law firm was the Supreme Winner of the 2017 WEPs White Camellia awards.