Equal Pay Amendment Bill
Member's Bill
Explanatory note
General policy statement
This Bill is an omnibus bill. It amends 2 Acts. The purpose is to remove discrimination in pay rates between men and women in the same jobs by making publicly available statistical information relat- ing to their rates of remuneration. The 2 Acts are —
• the Equal Pay Act 1972. The amendment to this Act requires all employers to deliver the information that they collect under section 130(1) of the Employment Relations Act 2000 to the Department of Labour for publication in statistical form:
• The Employment Relations Act 2000. The amendment to this Act requires an employer to record the gender of the employee under section 130 (1) (a).
The Equal Pay Act 1972 provides for the removal and prevention of discrimination, based on the sex of the employees, and the rates of remuneration of males and females in paid employment. However, nearly 30 years after its implementation, there is insufficient infor- mation in the public domain about rates of remuneration for men and women in the same jobs and sectors to be sure that this discrimin- ation has truly been removed.
This Bill seeks to increase the amount of information publicly available so that cases where this discrimination persists can be clearly identified.
This Bill seeks to make that information available in two ways. First, this Bill requires every employer to deliver annually the information they collect under section 130 of the Employment Relations Act 2000 to the Department of Labour for publication in statistical form. Sec- ond, any employee can demand their employer to provide the infor- mation.
Further, if an employer considers that the confidentiality of the information cannot be maintained the employer must give the information to an independent reviewer.
It is intended that making this information available will improve the likelihood of successful cases to be taken under the Equal Pay Act
1972 to seek remedies when such discrimination exists.
This Bill also provides that any employer who fails or refuses to mod- ify or eliminate pay rates or practices in contravention of the Equal Pay Act 1972 would be in breach of the good faith requirement under section 4 of The Employment Relations Act 2000.
Clause by clause analysis
Clause 1 is the Title clause.
Clause 2 provides that the Bill to come into force on the day after the date on which it receives the Royal assent.
Clause 3 provides for Part 1 to amend the Equal Pay Act 1972.
Clause 4 inserts a new section 17 that requires every employer to keep a record of the matters listed in section 130(1) of the Employment Relations Act 2000 and each year, no later than 1 June, to send those records in statistical form to the Department of Labour for publication.
Clause 5 inserts a new section 17B and new section 17C. Section 17B provides when there is a claim under section 18 and an employer has failed to keep or produce records as required under section 17 the department or employee may call evidence to show that the failure has prejudiced the ability to bring an accurate claim under section 18. In those circumstances, the Court must accept as proved all claims made by an employee or the department where there is evidence of a failure to keep or produce records as required by section 17 unless the defendant proves that the claims are incorrect. Section 17C pro- vides a request for information under section 17 from an employer is to be handled in a confidential manner. If the employer reasonably considers that the information requested cannot be provided in a manner that maintains its confidentially then it is to be handed to an independent reviewer appointed by mutual agreement between the employer and employee.
Clause 6 amends section 18 by increasing the maximum penalty for a breach of the Equal Pay Act 1973 from $400 to $5000 to an individual or from $1000 to $10,000 for a company or other corporation. This amendment aligns the penalties with the Employment Relations Act 2000.
Clause 7 provides for Part 2 to amend the Employment Relations Act 2000.
Clause 8 repeals paragraph (a) of section 130(1) and substitutes a new paragraph that requires every employer to record the gender of each employee.
