Ever wondered how the pay equity process works? Listed here are the steps involved in lodging, investigating and settling a claim to address undervaluing of women's work in a sector or industry.
Step 1 - We’ll raise a claim with your employer
NZEI Te Riu Roa will raise a claim with your employer. For those employed by schools or directly by the Ministry of Education, we have raised claims in female-dominated occupations directly with the Ministry of Education. In Early Childhood Education, we have raised claims at worksites where there is at least one NZEI Te Riu Roa member employed by that employer, at one or more of the employer’s sites or services.
Employers will not receive notification of who is a member and you are not obliged to inform them whether or not you are a member if you’re not comfortable doing so.
Step 2 - The employer agrees there are grounds for a case
NZEI Te Riu Roa will work with employers to establish there are grounds to believe the work done has been undervalued due to gender.
Step 3 - Information gathering
We will gather information about the work done, especially the less visible parts of the work.
This may involve interviewing people who undertake that work and assessing job descriptions.
Step 4 - Building a picture
We’ll use the information gathered to get a clear picture of what the work involves.
We will use this to build a picture of the skills, responsibilities, demands and conditions involved in the work.
Step 5 - Finding comparators
We’ll find appropriate comparators; those doing work of equal value. Equal value means work may be similar or different, but requires a similar level of skill, hold similar levels of responsibilities, or has similar demands and working conditions as the role we are assessing.
Appropriate comparators are male-dominated roles with jobs of equal value or female-dominated roles that have settled a pay equity claim (so are no longer affected by gender-based undervaluation).
Step 6 - Assessment
We assess the information we have gathered about the role and the information we have gathered about the comparators using the gender-neutral assessment tool Pay Equity Aromatawai Mahi.
Step 7 - Negotiations
The negotiations to settle the claim will take place. This is when we’ve seen the importance of people getting involved and campaigning for the win.
Step 8 - Proposed settlement agreed
The proposed settlement is shared with everyone covered by the claim, who then vote on whether to accept the settlement.
Step 9 - Winning pay equity!
If those covered by the claim vote in favour of the settlement, we have achieved pay equity!
You can find recently settled pay equity settlements for NZEI Te Riu Roa members here