Human Rights Commission wants the Government to establish a pay transparency agency

"This bill is a vital step in addressing decades of discrimination" says Iain Lees-Galloway on the Equal Pay Amendment Bill. Photo / Mark Mitchell

The Human Rights Commission is calling on the Government to set up an independent entity to ensure transparency in reporting pay equity.

In a submission to the Education and Workforce select committee on the Equal Pay Amendment Bill, the Commission said the bill, as it stands, fails to take a robust and meaningful approach to pay equity.

The legislation, according to Iain Lees-Galloway – the MP in charge of the bill – would improve the process for raising and progressing pay equity claims.

It also aims to eliminate and prevent discrimination on the basis of sex in the remuneration for work done within female-dominated jobs.

"This bill is a vital step in addressing decades of discrimination, which has led to lower pay in many female-dominated industries, despite having similar working conditions and skill requirements to comparable male-dominated industries," Lees-Galloway said in the bill's first reading last month.

But the Human Rights Commission's submission said the bill does not go far enough when it comes to pay transparency.

It said the Reconvened Joint Working Group – a group set up by Woman's Minister Julie Anna Genter and Lees-Galloway in January to develop a set of principles for pay equity – identified pay transparency, as an important gender pay disparity issue.

"However, the current bill fails to address this issue," the submission said.

"Pay transparency is an essential element of pay equity – the right to request pay information and pay reporting by companies can provide women with the information required to trigger a pay equity claim."

It added that New Zealand had fallen behind other similar jurisdictions, such as the United Kingdom, Australia and some Canadian States in this regard.

The Commission's Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner Saunoamaali'i Karanina Sumeo said pay transparency is an essential component of pay equity.

The Commission recommends an independent body is set up to receive transparency reports and to provide information and resource services for employees to go to regarding potential pay equity issues.

"The current Bill places the onus on women to raise a pay equity claim with their employer. It fails to recognise the power imbalance between employers and female employees."

"Pay equity claims are about potential breaches of human rights and women have the right to timely and effective justice."

The bill, which was introduced on September 19, is in the select committee stage while MPs accept submissions on the legislation.