Pay Equity Statistics
One of the problems in pay equity is a lack of information. This allows employers to hide discrimination.
In the UK, they are resolving this by forcing large employers to publish annual pay equity statistics. The relevant law is s73 of the Equality Bill (see the PDF version, part I).
Relevant law
Equal Pay Act 1972 or Employment Relations Act 2000.
Potential changes
Add a new section requiring employers to annually publish information showing the average pay of male and female employees.
Create an offence for failing to comply with the above.
Both possible Acts include a broad regulation-making power allowing the government to regulate as necessary to give full effect to the Act, which will allow them to specify the type of data etc.
Problems
- There is unlikely to be a majority for this measure under a National government.
page revision: 3, last edited: 23 Jun 2009 14:11
73 Gender pay gap information
(1) A Minister of the Crown may by regulations require employers to publish
information relating to the pay of employees for the purpose of showing
whether, by reference to factors of such description as is prescribed, there are
differences in the pay of male and female employees.
(2) This section does not apply to
(a) an employer who has fewer than 250 employees;
(b) a person specified in Schedule 19.
(3) The regulations may prescribe
(a) descriptions of employer;
(b) descriptions of employee;
(c) how to calculate the number of employees that an employer has;
(d) descriptions of information;
(e) the time at which information is to be published;
(f) the form and manner in which it is to be published.
(4) Regulations under subsection (3)(e) may not require an employer, after the first
publication of information, to publish information more frequently than at
intervals of 12 months.
(5) The regulations may make provision for a failure to comply with the
regulations
(a) to be an offence punishable on summary conviction by a fine not
exceeding level 5 on the standard scale;
(b) to be enforced, otherwise than as an offence, by such means as is
prescribed.
(6) The reference to a failure to comply with the regulations includes a reference
to a failure by a person acting on behalf of an employer.
Another relevant resource: report from the Equalities Office.
NZ business demography
100 employees covers 1.5% of firms but 48% of workers, which is pretty good. 50 makes it 3% and 57% respectively.