Pay equity taskforce: Terms of Reference

Labour Minister Margaret Wilson has released the Terms of Reference for the Pay Equity Taskforce.

Purpose of the Taskforce

1. The Taskforce will advise the Government on how the factors that contribute to the gender pay gap apply in particular parts of the public service and public health and education sectors, and on a five-year plan of action to address pay and employment equity with reference to those factors.
2. An important aspect of this purpose is to demonstrate the value of policies to address pay and employment equity and to provide a model for their implementation in the private sector.
3. 3.The work of the Taskforce will involve:
   
   1. documentation of the nature and extent of pay and employment disparities currently existing in the public service and public health and education sectors;
   2. identification (based on existing research) of the factors contributing to pay and employment inequity that apply in the public service and public health and education sectors as a whole and in each of these sectors, and in any specific parts of these sectors which may be identified;
   3. research or further work on the way in which these factors apply within the identified parts of the public service and public health and education sectors;
   4. development of a long-term plan of action to address each of these factors, within particular sectors if necessary, as a means to work towards pay and employment equity (based on a robust cost-benefit analysis); and
   5. recommendations on whether further work by the Taskforce is necessary to implement the plan of action, and if so, what that work should entail.

Principles

4. The Taskforce will adopt the following principles in making recommendations to Government:
   1. The objective of pay and employment equity policies in the public service and public health and education sectors is to address the gender pay gap through a plan of action which addresses the wide range of social, employment, economic and other factors which contribute to the pay gap;
   2. That the Taskforce should identify how the particular factors contributing to the pay gap apply in relation to each part of the public service and public health and education sectors, and where necessary, in relation to particular groups of employees within particular parts;
   3. That the plan of action should be capable of being implemented over five years in order that the necessary changes in practice and culture become embedded in the fabric of New Zealand society;
   4. That the analysis of the influence of contributing factors and the plan of action for addressing them, while focusing on the public service and public health and education sectors, may be used as a model for private sector initiatives;
   5. That the plan of action should recognise current labour market arrangements (including legislative interventions) and management practices, and the impacts of proposed pay and employment equity policies on them;
   6. That the plan of action should minimise compliance costs for both employers and employees/unions;
   7. viiThat any proposed options should be accompanied by a robust analysis of the costs and benefits of the options together with recommendations on how implementation of the options may be sequenced to spread those costs; and
   8. That policy interventions should be consistent with the Government's comprehensive policy programme of increasing economic growth, reducing inequality and improving the social and economic well-being of New Zealanders and their families in an environmentally, socially and economically sustainable manner (Speech from the Throne Aug 2002).
5. In identifying contributing factors and developing a plan of action, the Taskforce will take into account the following background:
   
   1. The history of pay and employment equity in New Zealand;
   2. The Human Rights framework in New Zealand;
   3. Information about the success or otherwise of existing policies (such as PPL, child care assistance, and work-life balance) in addressing any of the factors identified as contributing to the pay gap;
   4. An awareness of the influence of the wider labour market, including Government policies on minimum wages;
   5. The work of the Human Rights Commission, the State Services Commission, the EEO Commissioner and the EEO Trust in raising awareness of pay and employment equity issues;
   6. International experience in addressing pay and employment equity issues;
   7. The Quality Partnership approach adopted in the core public service;
   8. The tripartite initiatives in the public health sector; and
   9. Existing research on the nature of the gender pay gap in New Zealand and particularly in the public service and public health and education sectors.

Reporting

6. The Chair will be responsible for ensuring that the Ministerial Reference Group is kept informed of the progress of the Taskforce. The Ministerial Reference Group is chaired by the Minister of Labour and includes the Minister of Women's Affairs, the Minister of State Services, and the Minister of Finance, and draws in where appropriate the Minister of Health and the Minister of Education.
7. Within two months of being appointed, the Taskforce will meet to:
   
   1. Confirm their terms of reference;
   2. Design a work programme, including identifying the areas of the public service and public health and education sectors that should be studied, establishing (if appropriate) sub-committees to analyse how contributing factors apply in those areas, and identifying any research work that may be required to assist the analysis or development of a plan of action;
   3. Identify the resource implications of the immediate work programme proposed by the Taskforce, including the likely costs of that work programme;
   4. Have the terms of reference and work programme approved by the Minister of Labour, the Minister of Women's Affairs, the Minister of State Services and the Minister of Finance; and
   5. Establish a programme of monthly reports to the Ministerial Reference Group on progress.
8. The Taskforce is required to report to the Ministerial Reference Group on its findings in relation to the factors contributing to the pay gap and recommendations for a five-year plan of action to address these factors by 1 December 2003.