Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2024, published 113rd ILC session (2025)

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - New Zealand (Ratification: 1983)

The Committee notes the observations of Business New Zealand (BusinessNZ) and the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions (NZCTU) communicated with the Government’s report.

Articles 1 to 3 of the Convention. Equal remuneration for work of equal value and objective job evaluation. The Committee had noted that the concept of “pay equity” under the Equal Pay Amendment Act 2020 appeared to be narrower than the principle of the Convention. In this regard, the Government indicates, in its report, that section 2AAC(b) of the Equal Pay Act on pay equity allows for comparison between workers from different organizations and across different sectors. The Committee notes with interest the Government’s clarification which replies to its previous request on this point.

The Committee further notes the Government’s information that there exists various gender-neutral work assessment tools, including Te Orowaru, the Pay Equity Aromatawai Mahi (PEAM) used for claims in the education sector, and the older Equitable Job Evaluation (EJE) tool. The Committee notes with interest the development of Te Orowaru, which: (1) is a gender-neutral resource toolkit designed to describe and compare work for the purposes of the pay equity claims process or job evaluation; (2) is the first tool of its kind in New Zealand to recognize and value the skills people have in the Māori world; and (3) consists of a questionnaire in English and the Māori language, a factor plan, a factor scoring booklet and a glossary, all freely available on the Public Service Commission’s website. In response to an ongoing demand that Te Orowaru be utilized in different ways, the Pay Equity Taskforce is launching, in conjunction with the Gender, Māori, Pacific and Ethnic Pay Gaps team at the Public Service Commission, as well as union partners and agency key stakeholders, a work programme to develop the use of Te Orowaru.

The Committee notes, from the above-mentioned factor plan, that Te Orowaru provides for a factor-based (points-based) assessment of jobs in three parts: (1) a work assessment interview guided by a gender-neutral questionnaire; (2) an analysis of all information gathered using a factor plan, whereby the parties must look at each factor and allocate the work to the appropriate level, depending on the requirements of the work; and (3) factor scoring, which involves overlaying the factor levels with the points system to help the parties get clarity on the total size of a job and the degree of comparability between the claimant’s work and the work of any comparators (meaning that the total score for an assessed occupation can then be compared to any other comparator used). The Committee further notes from the factor scoring booklet that Te Orowaru has 14 factors, grouped into four categories with different weightings in the points allocated to them: skills (weighting at 44 per cent), responsibilities (35 per cent), effort (16 per cent) and working conditions (5 per cent). The Committee notes the observations of BusinessNZ, which warn against the time-consuming exercise involved in Te Orowaru job evaluation processes, and that the processes involve an element of subjectivity. It further notes the Government’s indication that, as of May 2023, there have been 10 pay equity settlements (with another 27 more claims active) which have resulted in 111,549 people receiving a pay correction averaging 32.4 per cent. In light of these positive developments, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on the outcomes of the 27 pending pay equity claims as well as any other information related to the development of the Te Orowaru.

The Committee is raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.