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.
