135″Pay parity or pay equity or equal pay. I am confused!”
This is the sort of statement I have often heard from my colleagues in my 12 years as an emergency department delegate, especially since NZNO raised the district health board nurses’ pay equity claim in 2017.
I have found that the three terms are often used interchangeably, and occasionally incorrectly, including by me. So, I am going to try to give a simple explanation of what the three terms mean and where they sit in the cycle of bargaining.
I have found that the three terms are often used interchangeably, and occasionally incorrectly, including by me.
The facts and figures are all available on the NZNO website and the wider internet and what I have written has been found through research and asking questions of those in the know.
- PAY PARITY means, very simply, two people with the same job title but different employers being paid at the same rate by both employers.
An example of lack of pay parity would be a registered nurse (RN) employed by Te Whatu Ora with eight years of experience, who receives a salary of $106,739 or $51.17/hr.
The same RN employed in the primary health sector by a GP practice covered by the current primary health care multi-employer collective agreement (PHC MECA) would earn a salary of $90,547.12 or $43.42/hr.
Both these nurses have the same qualifications and experience but one earns $16,191.88 less per year. That’s a difference of nearly 18 per cent, based on the nurse’s employer.
Both collectives described above are currently being renegotiated, with NZNO members covered by the PHC MECA claiming pay parity with Te Whatu Ora.
- PAY EQUITY is very different than pay parity. It describes work done in female-dominated professions (eg nursing and midwifery) being paid at the same rates as male-dominated professions (eg police) that can be measured as being of the same value.
Historically, there have been areas of work that are considered “women’s work” and many health-care professions fall largely into this category, including nursing and midwifery. Over time, the pay for this type of work has fallen behind male-dominated work that has similar value.
The Equal Pay Amendment Act 2020 was passed into law to better address pay equity. The Act provides a robust and practical process to raise, assess and negotiate pay equity for female-dominated professions. It allows unions and employers to work through a claim collaboratively.
“Value” in this sense means measuring the work, and all the skills, knowledge and experience that go into performing that work, and is arguably the most important concept to grasp in pay equity. It goes beyond the stated duties and the required qualifications for a job.
These factors (and more) build a ‘value’ for a role and are then compared using the same measures against one that is historically male-dominated.
Various tools are used that measure factors such as knowledge, both academic and lived experience, problem-solving, communication skills, te ao Māori skills, organisational and planning skills, people leadership, responsibilities such as managing financial and physical resources, working conditions (ie indoor vs outdoor, hazards faced, comfort etc) and the amount of emotional, physical and sensory efforts you might be required to exercise doing your job.
These factors (and more) build a “value” for a role and are then compared using the same measures against one that is historically male-dominated.
Once a claim is raised and is assessed as described above, negotiations can then take place to address inequities identified. This might be pay level; it might be terms and conditions that sit in an employment agreement other than salary. Once negotiations are complete, any pay equity settlement must be maintained through regular reviews.
Pay equity cannot be negotiated through the collective bargaining process and should not affect the outcomes of collective bargaining.
- EQUAL PAY is similar, but also different, to pay equity and pay parity. It very simply means that a person should be paid at the same rate and with the same or similar conditions as a person of a different gender doing the same job for the same employer.
This is largely done through collective bargaining for a single pay scale for a role. This eliminates differing pay rates based on individualist approaches, or so-called “performance pay” that historically has disadvantaged not only women but also Māori, Pacific and other minorities in the workplace.
Collective bargaining is used to address equal pay and pay parity, while the pay equity process is used to address pay equity claims. The two processes must be kept very separate.
Collective bargaining is based on current budgets and funding and its outcome very much depends on the determination of workers to back their negotiating team through the bargaining process. You can strike to support collective bargaining.
Parity is a standard claim for NZNO collective negotiating teams.
Pay equity is a slower and much more precise process. Negotiations only come at the very end of the process to address identified inequities that are identified through the assessment stage. The government must contribute where pay equity issues have been identified. You cannot strike to support a pay equity claim.
Parity is a standard claim for NZNO collective negotiating teams. In the case of nurse, midwife and health-care assistant pay, the Te Whatu Ora collective is used as the standard, having already been through a pay equity claim which has been settled.
The descriptions above are simplified — the processes and legislation governing what is described here are often very complex and slow moving.
Think of these processes as a duck moving against the current. On the surface, everything looks calm and relaxed, but below the surface there is a little engine paddling away like mad to achieve the outcomes that members need, often against quite a strong current. NZNO is that machinery.