Meeting your pay equity obligations

You must pay men and women equitably

As an employer, you must pay men and women the same for doing:

• the same work (equal pay) and
• different work of equal value (pay equity).

Employees can challenge potential sex-based undervaluation of work with their employers by making a pay equity claim under the Equal Pay Act 1972 (the Act).

Raising a pay equity claim

The Act recognises that it is possible for the work involved in 2 jobs to look different but require the same, or substantially similar, levels of skills, responsibilities, conditions, effort and experience, and in these situations recognises that these jobs should be paid the same.

The Equal Pay Act 1972 - New Zealand Legislation(external link)

To help meet your obligations under the Act, you can take steps like:

• ensuring equitable pay when setting pay structures and rates, hiring new employees, or reviewing or changing current pay
• training managers and leaders to:
  • understand pay equity and equal pay
  • know their obligations under the Act
• measuring any possible gender pay gaps in your organisation.

Resources to measure a gender pay gap

Ministry for Women and Statistics New Zealand have published methodologies for measuring a gender pay gap.

Gender pay gap toolkit – Ministry for Women(external link)

Measure your gender pay gap – Ministry for Women(external link)

Organisational gender pay gaps: Measurement and analysis guidelines – Stats NZ(external link)