The revival and refashioning of gender pay equity in New Zealand

2020 ◽  
Vol 62 (4) ◽  
pp. 560-581
Author(s):  
Jane Parker ◽  
Noelle Donnelly
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Gender Equity ◽  
Action Plan ◽  
Aged Care ◽  
Pay Equity ◽  
Wage Setting ◽  
Equal Pay ◽  
Bargaining Process ◽  
Legislative Amendments ◽  
The Government

While the foundations for redressing gender pay inequality in New Zealand were established half a century ago, significant numbers of women still endure the sharp end of gender-based pay differentials. Following a landmark test case in the aged care sector which focused on the (re)interpretation of the Equal Pay Act 1972, gender pay equality is once again under intense scrutiny. On the 125th anniversary of women’s suffrage, the New Zealand government signalled the introduction of legislative amendments to address this enduring challenge. Although widely contested, the intent of the Equal Pay Amendment Bill is to lower the threshold for raising pay equity claims, while establishing a bargaining process for resolving them. Alongside this, the government has introduced an ambitious workplace action plan to eliminate public service gender pay gaps. Informed by gender equity policy approaches, this article examines New Zealand’s (gendered) regulatory history relating to equal pay, yielding insights into how labour law and policy have both addressed and evaded the objective of equal remuneration for work of equal value, concluding with a discussion of recent initiatives. This qualitative analysis illustrates how institutional contexts for wage-setting and value-laden equality strategies impact women’s experience of work in New Zealand.

scholarly journals Pay Equity and Equal Employment Opportunity: Policy, Rhetoric and Reality in the 2004 New Zealand Labour Market

1970 ◽  
Author(s):  
Prue Hyman
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Equal Opportunity ◽  
Labour Force ◽  
Pay Equity ◽  
Select Committee ◽  
Equal Pay ◽  
Pacific People ◽  
The Public ◽  
Equal Employment ◽  
The Government

Pay equity (here interpreted as equal pay for work of equal value) has long been official Labour Party policy, although never properly implemented. The recent Taskforce on Pay and Employment Equity in the Public Service, Public Education and Public Health proposes advances in those sectors. At the same time, Part Two of the Employment Relations Law Reform Bill a First Reading Stage would have repealed the only possible, if disputed, legislative underpinning for equal pay for work of equal value in the public and private sectors. After submissions and lobbying, the government sensibly agreed to the Select Committee recommendation to withdraw this from the Bill. The HRC report "Framework for the Future: Equal Employment Opportunities in New Zealand" finds little progress in the employment position of people with disabilities, while the status of Pacific people in the New Zealand labour force is even worse than that of Maori- nor has gender equality yet been achieved. It argues that a lack of equal opportunity creates social tension while New Zealand is being held hack economically through talent being under-utilised. This paper will discuss these reports and developments, government policy and the realities in these areas in 2004 New Zealand.

Gender Equity: The Commission’s Legacy and the Challenge for Fair Work Australia

2011 ◽  
Vol 53 (5) ◽  
pp. 647-661 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meg Smith
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Gender Equity ◽  
Gender Relations ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Paid Work ◽  
Pay Equity ◽  
Equal Pay ◽  
Market Variables ◽  
Policy Shifts

Two labour-market variables, wages and hours, are used to review the gender relations record of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission and its predecessors. This review informs an assessment of what features of Commission practice and capacity should and can be replicated by Fair Work Australia. Arbitration has been most decisive for women in paid work when it has enjoyed national and industry distribution. Advances in equal pay and leave linked to reproduction are two relevant examples, although these advances have been confronted more recently by frailties in federal gender pay equity regulation and policy shifts to enterprise and individual bargaining. The findings suggest an agenda for Fair Work Australia, notwithstanding the possibilities and limitations posed by the Fair Work Act 2009 and the tendency for changes to the gender contract to be highly contested.

scholarly journals Redressing gendered undervaluation in New Zealand aged care: Institutions, activism and coalitions

2020 ◽  
Vol 62 (4) ◽  
pp. 608-629
Author(s):  
Sara Charlesworth ◽  
Lisa Heap
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Aged Care ◽  
Career Progression ◽  
Care Work ◽  
Collaborative Approach ◽  
Equal Pay ◽  
Diverse Range ◽  
Policy Actors ◽  
Employment Standards

This article explores the apparent conundrum of how, with minimal employment standards and limited equal pay laws, New Zealand managed to significantly redress the gendered undervaluation of low-paid aged care work. To draw out the pathways to these reforms, we focus on the long-term strategic coalitions that underpinned them. We examine, in particular, the activism of a diverse range of policy actors – unions, employers, industrial and human rights bodies and civil society groups, which together have worked to ‘undo’ the limitations of equal pay and employment regulation. Our findings point to the benefits of strategic collaboration between policy actors in New Zealand and an approach which recognises the intersection of unequal pay with other gendered dimensions of disadvantage in aged care work. Different strategies used over time by diverse actors helped them overcome inadequate industrial and equal pay infrastructure to realise meaningful increases in hourly rates of pay, buttressed by improved working time arrangements and provision for career progression. We conclude by highlighting some lessons for institutional and policy actors in other national settings drawn from the New Zealand collaborative approach to equal pay in care work.

From equal pay to overcoming undervaluation: The Australian National Pay Equity Coalition 1988–2011

2020 ◽  
Vol 62 (4) ◽  
pp. 582-607
Author(s):  
Danny Blackman ◽  
Meredith Burgmann ◽  
Philippa Hall ◽  
Fran Hayes ◽  
Anne Junor ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gender Gap ◽  
Value Assessment ◽  
Pay Equity ◽  
Wage Setting ◽  
Equal Pay ◽  
History Of ◽  
Work Value ◽  
Federal Jurisdiction ◽  
Gender Based ◽  
Assessment Bias

Australian feminists have struggled to define the International Labour Organisation’s Equal Remuneration Convention’ goal of gender pay equity and find a platform for achieving it. Approaches based on discrimination, or a male comparator, have proved unworkable. Networking nationally and internationally, the National Pay Equity Coalition (1988–2011) formulated many submissions to industrial tribunals and parliamentary inquiries. Early interventions argued the disadvantages to women of the decentralisation of bargaining in the 1990s, but following the failure of discrimination-based cases, this focus shifted. National Pay Equity Coalition submissions came to define the gender gap, not as one between women and male comparators, but as a recognition gap. They argued that indicators of a history of gender-based undervaluation should lead to a bias-free work value assessment. Bias lay in the distance between actual job demands and their characterisation in classification descriptions. It could be redressed by fuller recognition of the work value of feminised service roles. This approach to the recognition and remedy of undervaluation informed the 1998 NSW Pay Equity Inquiry and the NSW Equal Remuneration Principle, but is not recognised in federal labour law. No Equal Remuneration Principle yet applies in the federal jurisdiction which since 2009 has governed most Australian wage setting amidst growing social inequality.

The gap between attitudes and processes related to ‘family-friendly’ practices in anaesthesia training in New Zealand: A survey of anaesthesia supervisors of training and departmental directors

2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (6) ◽  
pp. 454-464
Author(s):  
Jane C Carter ◽  
Alexander L Garden
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Gender Equity ◽  
Cultural Change ◽  
Parental Leave ◽  
Action Plan ◽  
Working Hours ◽  
Gender Inequity ◽  
Electronic Survey ◽  
Family Friendly ◽  
Zealand College

Gender inequity persists within the anaesthetic workforce, despite approaching numerical parity in Australia and New Zealand. There is evidence, from anaesthesia and the wider health workforce, that domestic gender norms regarding parental responsibilities contribute to this. The creation of ‘family-friendly’ workplaces may be useful in driving change, a concept reflected in the gender equity action plan developed by the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists. This study aimed to explore the extent to which a family-friendly culture exists within anaesthesia training in New Zealand, from the perspective of leaders in anaesthesia departments. An electronic survey composed of quantitative and qualitative questions was emailed to all supervisors of training, rotational supervisors and departmental directors at Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists accredited training hospitals in New Zealand. Twenty-eight of the 71 eligible participants responded (response rate 39%). The majority (61%) agreed with the statement ‘our department has a “family friendly” approach to anaesthesia trainees’; however, there was a discrepancy between views about how departments should be and how they actually are. Several barriers contributing to this discrepancy were identified, including workforce logistics, governance, departmental structures and attitudes. Uncertainty in responses regarding aspects of working hours, parental leave and the use of domestic sick leave reflect gaps in understanding, with scope for further enquiry and education. To redress gender bias seriously through the development of family-friendly policies and practices requires supportive governance and logistics, along with some cultural change.

scholarly journals Turnover Intention Among Direct Care Workers of Older Adults in Chinese Hospitals and Nursing Homes

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 86-86
Author(s):  
Zhenzhen Zhang ◽  
Shuangshuang Wang ◽  
Nengliang (Aaron) Yao ◽  
Zhang Zhenzhen
Keyword(s):  
Job Satisfaction ◽  
Nursing Homes ◽  
Turnover Intention ◽  
Aged Care ◽  
Identity Transformation ◽  
Direct Care ◽  
Retention Rates ◽  
Direct Care Workers ◽  
Care Workers ◽  
The Government

Abstract High retention rates among direct care workers (DCWs) affect the quality of aged care. However, limited research has explored factors associated with retention in the Chinese aged care industry. This study compared turnover intention and job satisfaction among DCWs in Chinese hospitals and nursing homes. A total 370 DCWs from 7 hospitals (297 contractual, 73 non-contractual) and 311 DCWs from 7 nursing homes (27 contractual, 284 non-contractual) located in Fujian, China were recruited to fill out a questionnaire. Overall, DCWs from hospitals reported lower turnover intention (20.5 % vs 37.0%) and higher levels of job satisfaction (31.1% vs 16.4%) than DCWs from nursing homes. Specifically, contractual DCWs from hospitals indicated lower turnover intention (14.8%) than non-contractual DCWs from hospitals (43.8%) and both types of DCWs from nursing homes (36.3% and 44.4%). Higher job satisfaction was associated with lower turnover intention, but did not mediate the association between DCW types and turnover intention. Findings suggested that the government and institutions should help DCWs complete the identity transformation from non-contractual DCWs to contractual DCWs to enhance job security and benefits. For nursing home DCWs, licensing and registration requirements shall meet the standards for hospital DCWs. Attention is also to be paid to working conditions and staff welfare of DCWs, including social insurance, pensions, and trainings, to improve job satisfaction and reduce turnover intention.

scholarly journals Gastrointestinal Symptoms and FODMAP Intake of Aged-Care Residents from Christchurch, New Zealand

Nutrients ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 1083 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wathsala Nanayakkara ◽  
Richard Gearry ◽  
Jane Muir ◽  
Leigh O’Brien ◽  
Tim Wilkinson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Gastrointestinal Symptoms ◽  
Aged Care

Medical Device Regulation and the Proposed Therapeutic Products Bill: Devising a New Regime

2021 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
pp. 319-342
Author(s):  
Laura Hardcastle
Keyword(s):  
Patient Safety ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Medical Devices ◽  
Cosmetic Products ◽  
Regulatory Oversight ◽  
Speed To Market ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Right ◽  
Promote Patient Safety ◽  
Medical Device Regulation

Despite medical devices being integral to modern healthcare, New Zealand's regulation of them is decidedly limited, with repeated attempts at reform having been unsuccessful. With the Government now indicating that new therapeutic products legislation may be introduced before the end of the year, the article considers the case for change, including to promote patient safety, before analysing the draft Therapeutic Products Bill previously proposed by the Ministry of Health, and on which any new legislation is expected to be based. It concludes that, while the proposed Bill is a step in the right direction, introducing regulatory oversight where there is currently next to none, there is still significant work to be done. In particular, it identifies a need to clarify whether the regime is indeed to be principles-based and identifies further principles which might be considered for inclusion. It further proposes regulation of cosmetic products which operate similarly to medical devices to promote safety objectives, while finding a need for further analysis around the extent to which New Zealand approval processes should rely on overseas regulators. Finally, it argues that, in an area with such major repercussions for people's health, difficult decisions around how to develop a framework which balances safety with speed to market should not be left almost entirely to an as yet unknown regulator but, rather, more guidance from Parliament is needed.

Design Challenges of the Horotiu Paa Bridge - Maximising Structural Efficiency and Economy

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liam Edwards
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Weathering Steel ◽  
Steel Bridge ◽  
Design Development ◽  
Economic Prosperity ◽  
Total Length ◽  
The Government ◽  
National Significance ◽  
Bridge Spans ◽  
Design Challenges

The Horotiu Paa Bridge, also known as the Karapiro Gully Bridge is the largest weathering steel bridge in New Zealand. Construction of the bridge was recently completed in November 2015. The bridge is part of the Cambridge section of the Waikato Expressway in New Zealand. The Waikato Expressway is one of the seven state highways, named the Roads of National Significance, identified by the government as essential to New Zealand's economic prosperity. The bridge spans over the Karapiro Gully with a total length of 200m, consisting of four 50m long equal spans and is 24m wide, servicing 4 lanes of traffic.<p> This paper discusses the design development, key design aspects, innovations and technical challenges for the design of the Horotiu Paa Bridge.

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