Mind The Gap! Newly Launched Hub Adds Insights And Tools For Pay Gap Reporting By Kiwi Businesses

On the anniversary of the Equal Pay Act 1972, new data from the Pay Gap Registry shows that pay gap reporting is successful in closing gaps in 79% of organisations that have reported year on year and underlining the need for many more New Zealand business to take action on reporting and addressing pay gaps.

“We know New Zealand employers don’t set out to have pay gaps, but almost all do find gaps. It’s the act of measuring and analysis that reveals the drivers and solutions within each business,” says Mind the Gap cofounder and leader of the new Hub, Dellwyn Stuart.

The data was released as part of the launch of the new Pay Gap Insights Hub where the Pay Gap Registry can now be found alongside helpful resources for organisations looking to close their gaps.

There are 115+ New Zealand organisations on the Registry shown as reporting gender pay gaps, of which

• 26% are also reporting their Māori pay gaps
• 22% are also reporting their Pacific Peoples pay gaps
• 79% reported an overall decrease in their gender pay gap.

Pay gaps represent substantial income and resources that are not available to women and their families. This is more so in Māori and Pacific households where pay gaps are larger. Women’s wages are critical for the wellbeing of their children and wider whānau.

“Ensuring women are paid equitably and afforded opportunities to advance to higher paying roles (addressing pay gaps) will reduce our in work poverty rates.“

Pay gaps in Aotearoa NZ remain substantial, especially when looking at the intersection of gender & ethnicity. (Calculated based on NZ Stats recommendations and using Pākehā men as the comparator.)

• Pākehā women = 8.1%
• Māori women = 19.0%
• Pasifika women = 20.9%
• Asian women = 18.2%
• MELAA women = 12.1%
• Other ethnicity women = 16.3%

Based on these percentages, as of Monday 21 October both Māori and Pacific women are now effectively working for free for the remainder of 2024 (as compared to Pākehā men).

Dellwyn Stuart said the voluntary reporting activity that was initiated as part of the Mind the Gap campaign is generating data that will help inform best practice in the New Zealand employment environment.

“While legislation is required to create an even playing field for reporting and impact, there is still opportunity for positive change with the current voluntary approach. We have around 3000 businesses in NZ of more than 100 employees and only a small fraction of these have embraced reporting to date. That means there’s lots of room to increase participation.”

Ms Stuart said there is broad support from across business for the Pay Gap Insights Hub. “The Hub will champion reporting, share useful tools and frameworks and the key learnings.

“Our early adopters come from a broad cross section of business sectors with the most recent reporters including a games developer, wine exporter and rural services company.”

Ms Stuart noted that to date no business has reported backlash from employees when revealing pay gaps. Transparency is highly valued and communicating plans to close gaps demonstrates a commitment to action.

“The good news for businesses that find gaps, is that they control many of the levers needed to close them.”

Notes:

October 20th is the anniversary of the Equal Pay Act 1972.

The Pay Gap Insights Hub aims to sustain awareness around the benefits of measuring, reporting and closing pay gaps as a dedicated employer resource centre. www.paygapinsightshub.nz

The Registry was originally launched as part of the Mind The Gap campaign (2021 -2023) which called on the Government to legislate for pay gap reporting.

Voluntary reporting regimes have been used in other countries to pave the way to legislation. Australia and the United Kingdom both began their journey towards pay gap reporting with voluntary initiatives before implementing mandatory requirements.

The Pay Gap Insights Hub is independent and managed by the YWCA’s Gender at Work community.

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