New Zealand consumer confidence remained upbeat in July.

Kiwis are unaware they're owed billions in back pay - and $1m a day is being written off, writes Sam Huggard.

The traditional annual increase doesn't work in this economy anymore, says an expert. So some companies are trying to break away from this system.

This year has carried hopes of a breakthrough for "pay equity", which means equal pay for women not just with men doing the same work but with men doing different work.

COMMENT: Progress on equal pay has been glacial since our Equal Pay Act was passed closed to half a century ago, writes Catriona MacLennan, Vicky Mee and Judy McGregor.

INTERACTIVE: We reveal what bosses of New Zealand's biggest companies earn and what kind of pay rises they've been getting.

Kiwi workers are putting in an average of about $3000 worth of unpaid overtime for their employers every year, a new survey suggests.

The world's biggest fund is to use its huge influence to vote against fat cat pay and boardroom bad behaviour.

Women still earn about 10 per cent less than men after taking into account all measurable factors other than gender, new research has found.

The one firm figure in the unfolding holiday pay fiasco is that six employers, including the NZ Police, owe staff $33 million in unpaid entitlements.

Holiday pay underpayments, partly due to faulty payroll systems, are believed to have run into millions of dollars.

Executive incentive schemes aim to boost company performance. But is it too easy for top bosses to get a reward?

While we cannot guarantee exactly what future jobs will entail, we do know for sure that having an education that allows you to adapt will be vital, writes Grant Robertson.

COMMENT: Labour has chosen the right topic but needs to get more specific about the solutions.

The Labour Party appears to be considering a radical new system of social welfare. It is hard to see any real benefit. It would be a universal setback.

Taxpayers' Union says Labour Party plans for "universal basic income" will come with hefty price tag.

According to a new report from career website Glassdoor, physicians, lawyers, and pharmacy managers had the top salaries in 2015.

More than 6000 support staff in schools are being paid less per week because of a once-in-a-decade payroll change.

NZ has dropped to 10th in the Global Gender Gap report of more than 140 countries, write Judy McGregor.

Raising income for low-wage earners saves the rest from higher tax and can help lift employment, writes Josie Pagani.

It's time for councillors to put their money where their mouth is and adopt a Living Wage in 2016. If they can't do that, they should stop calling Auckland "the world's most liveable city', writes Catriona MacLennan.

Our failure to pay women at the same rate as we pay men is nevertheless an expression of a deeply entrenched attitude in our society, Bryan Gould writes.

A rise of 50 cents an hour to $15.25 is a pay rise of 3.3 per cent, which given the dodgy economic climate, is relatively respectable.

A longstanding union goal of lifting the minimum wage to $15 an hour may finally be achieved today.

New immigrants to Auckland unfamiliar with the health system are turning up to hospitals when they should be going to doctors, MPs on the health committee heard yesterday.

This is a worldwide issue with a vast literature and history internationally and in NZ, writes Prue Hyman. Sadly, substantial political resistance is encountered worldwide in remedying the situation.

The items that have gone up the most over the past seven years are the essential items that most people must pay for, writes Peter Lyons.

Some expat Kiwis earning a lower income in the UK could be captured by a rule change which will lead to deportation for people earning below an income threshold.